From left to right: Youssef el-Banna, Dr. Matthew Anderson, Nadeem Ahmed, H.E. Amr Moussa, Cornelis Hulsman

It is the dream of most interns to be able to meet with such an experienced politician such as H.E. Amr Moussa. He was the Egyptian Ambassador to the USA, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Head of the Arab League, and last but not least the chairman of the Constitutional Assembly in 2013, the assembly that amended the Egyptian Constitution in force today.

Interns are blessed with the tremendous network of contacts of Cornelis Hulsman, which includes such important figures as Amr Moussa. Hulsman looks at the individual interests of each intern and then tries to seek important contacts for interviews. This is how we were able to meet with H.E. Amr Moussa.

The interaction with HE Amr Moussa was holistic and comprehensive. During the interview, he touched upon the most important subjects of socio-political significance. He elaborated on the developments of Egypt’s domestic politics after the revolution, and the importance of the amended constitution of 2014. He opined on the ideas of Pan-Arabism and nationalism in Egypt with contemporary relevance and observed its implications. He observed that nationalism still holds relevance although it should take a new form and wave in the 21st century without ignoring the bonds to the Arab world, and affirmed that it is something that is innate in the political thinking and regional policies of Egypt.

H.E. Amr Moussa also commented on Egypt’s foreign policy imperatives vis-à-vis dynamics of regional politics of the Middle East. He stressed on the need of Iran to acknowledge other regional powers and the need to rectify the policy problems in Turkey, and urged to think about the modus operandi to carry out contributions to the stability in the near future in the Arab world. He commented on the prospects for peace on the matter of Palestine, and the adequate steps to be taken for the stability of the Arab world. He pointed out the need to think solutions apart from the Two-state solution, and said that it is the time for a one state solution which wouldn’t discriminate any stakeholders. He further stressed the need for Europe to support stability in the region. It is in the interest of Europe to keep Egypt stable to avoid consequences of a mass influx of migrants and refugees. 

The interview indeed was enlightening; with HE Amr Moussa elaborating on subjects of polemical import that saliently caters to the progress of the researches we are doing on a wide range of topics like Geopolitics of Egypt, Egyptian foreign policy, nationalism in Egypt, and an overview of Pan Arabism in Egypt. Such interactions and interviews undeniably contribute essentially to the larger academic interests of the universities and institutions interns come from, and also add value to their research projects.

Needless to mention, the primary purpose of such interviews is to imply the importance of engaging the young minds with dignitaries and diplomats from the respective fields of expertise and specialty.  Such discussions and deliberations are vital for a prudent outcome of any research or study and are inevitable to identify the gaps in any dominant discourse to further address it rightly.

Cairo, 25 June 2018

Nadeem Ahmed Moonakal

Post Graduate student at the Department of Geopolitics and International Relations, Manipal University, India

Youssef el-Banna
Studying Social Science and Law at the University of Erfurt, Germany

Currently both are research interns at the Center for Arab-West Understanding