Implications of Egypt Opening the Rafah Crossing

Egypt announced it will open the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on May 28, one of several slight adjustments to the country's foreign policy by the military council that has ruled the country since February, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). The council is attempting to preserve stability at home and in the region by maintaining a precarious balance: It wants to show its citizens that the SCAF has harkened a new era in Egypt, but it also must ensure that Israel does not feel its strategic relationship with Egypt is under threat. The new regional political reality in the wake of the so-called Arab Spring has left Cairo with little choice but to embark upon this path.