In Egypt, Morsi's Foreign Policy Revival

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi will spend much of the next month pursuing his foreign policy goals. He will attend the Non-Aligned Movement meeting in Tehran on Aug. 30 — just two days after he departed Egypt for China to meet with leaders in Beijing. Then in late September, Morsi will attend the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York, after which he will go to Washington, where he may visit the White House.

Morsi is trying to revive Egypt's regional geopolitical relevance. Egyptian foreign policy stagnated under the government of Morsi's predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, who was more concerned with internal issues than he was with Egypt's traditional regional roles, such as mediating Palestinian issues. With his new strategy, Morsi will try to reclaim these roles, which other regional players such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia have assumed, and strengthen support among those who have underplayed Egypt's regional significance. The new Egyptian president's upcoming visits will be key to this plan.