U.S. Bright Star Participation and the Push for Egyptian Reform

U.S. and Egyptian military forces, beginning Saturday, will participate in a joint exercise in Egypt called “Bright Star 2018.” This is the second time the United States will participate in the joint exercise since the Egyptian military toppled Islamist President Muhammad Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013. American participation in Bright Star reflects an ongoing effort to balance U.S. engagement with Cairo on security issues without neglecting Washington’s concerns about human rights abuses.

U.S. and Egyptian forces held the first Bright Star exercise in 1980. They then held the exercise every other year until 2011, when the instability that followed the fall of President Hosni Mubarak led to its cancellation. President Obama then canceled the exercise in August 2013, the day after Egyptian security forces dispersed pro-Morsi demonstrators in Rabaa al-Adawiya Square. The protesters had gathered to oppose the military ouster of President Morsi six weeks earlier. Hundreds were killed.

Approximately 800 U.S. service members will participate in Bright Star 2018, according to a statement by the U.S. Central Command. The focus this year will be on “regional security and cooperation, and promoting interoperability in irregular warfare scenarios.” Land, naval, and air forces from Egypt, Greece, Jordan, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Italy, and France will also participate, according to an Egyptian military spokesperson.

This year’s exercise coincides with a major military operation to crush the Islamic State and other terrorist groups in the Sinai peninsula and other parts of the country. On February 9, the Egyptian military launched what it called a “comprehensive operation” against a handful of terrorist groups that had been targeting the Egyptian military and police. Last week, the Egyptian Army issued an update on the campaign, announcing that 20 “extremely dangerous” militants were killed in an air strike in the country’s western desert and in a series of raids in the Sinai peninsula. Security forces also arrested 18 militants.

While relations were frosty during the Obama presidency, U.S.-Egyptian ties have warmed substantially under the Trump administration, with Sisi visiting the White House in April 2017. The U.S. charge d’affaires in Cairo Thomas Goldberger hailed the Bright Star exercise as “one of the many ways that we partner with Egypt to address common threats to regional security.”

Washington’s concerns linger, however. Rights activists and journalists, arrested for their purported threat to Egyptian security, continue to languish in Egyptian jails. One prominent prisoner is a former diplomat arrested in August for proposing a referendum on the Sisi government. Authorities have also arrested women who have spoken out against sexual assault and harassment, while Christians remain vulnerable to attacks.

In the long-term, the stability of Egypt as well as the strength of the U.S.-Egyptian partnership depend on Cairo improving on this score. Progress has been slow. The U.S. decision to re-join Bright Star, in addition to its obvious military implications, should be viewed as a diplomatic tool to push Cairo in the right direction.