ASSESSMENTS

Egypt Goes on an Arms Spending Spree

Oct 9, 2018 | 09:00 GMT

Egyptian troops patrol the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt as they keep an eye on Hamas forces in 2016.

Egyptian troops patrol the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt as they keep an eye on Hamas forces in 2016. Members of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas' security forces are gathering, as Hamas began increasing its forces, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on April 21, 2016. Hamas began deploying additional forces on the Gaza border with Egypt, the interior ministry said, in an apparent effort to ease Cairo's concerns about security.

(SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images)

Highlights

  • Over the past five years, Egypt has drastically increased its arms imports, making it the third largest destination for weapons in the world.
  • Military necessity does not adequately explain the major increase in arms purchases. Egypt has pursued the arms buildup to bolster regional influence and global prestige and to lessen its dependence on the United States.
  • The buildup has come at a significant cost to military efficiency, because the types of weaponry differ widely throughout the armed forces.
  • Ultimately, such expenditures are unsustainable due to Egypt's economic realities.

Over the last few years, Egypt has opened the checkbook, embarking on a major arms purchasing program that has quickly made it one of the biggest importers of arms in the world. The outlay of cash, however, is all the more remarkable given Egypt's fragile economic situation and its lack of a major conventional adversary. In this, Egypt's motivations in strengthening its arsenal do not stem so much from a military need but a desire to regain the influence of a country that is used to throwing its weight around the region. Ultimately, however, simple economics might curtail the Egyptian spending spree....

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