It's time for closer ties between Syria and Egypt

Since the 2008 Arab Economic Summit in Kuwait, Syrian-Saudi relations have been improving at a steady pace. By contrast, Syrian-Egyptian relations have not been taking similar course. Although commercial ties between Damascus and Cairo have improved considerably in recent months, political ties remain difficult to mend.

The two countries — which once, together with Saudi Arabia, formed a de facto alliance within the Arab world — are finding it difficult to overcome their foreign policy differences. Throughout the 1990s, the three actors constituted the basic pillars of common Arab action. Following the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, however, their interests started to diverge, unravelling their alliance.

Syrian-Egyptian relations have always been complicated, and have varied from one extreme to the other. Throughout the 1950s, for example, the two countries were very close. They went as far as to form a united republic. In 1973, they joined forces in a bid to liberate occupied territory in the first major Arab attack against Israel. Following that war, however, the interests and policies of the two countries diverged. Egypt negotiated a peace treaty with Israel, to which Syria led the opposition.

The 1979 Iranian Revolution widened the schism between Damascus and Cairo. Syria saw in revolutionary Iran a compensation for the loss of Egypt in the Arab-Israeli balance of power. It hence supported the Islamic government of Iran throughout the eight-year war with Iraq, whereas Egypt stood by Iraq and bolstered its military machine against the Iranians.

With the end of that war, Syria joined with the rest of the Arab world in readmitting Egypt to the 19th Arab League Summit at Casablanca in 1989. Full diplomatic relations were restored shortly afterwards.

The 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait brought about another change. The Egyptians watched with astonishment as Syria supported the US-led coalition that forced the Iraqis out of Kuwait. The shift in Syrian policy led to the emergence of the tripartite axis — Syria, Egypt and Saudi Arabia — that dominated Arab politics for a decade.

The tripartite axis survived until the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Although Syria and Egypt both opposed the US invasion, their policies diverged widely after the collapse of Saddam Husain's regime. The two countries also took different sides in the power struggle in the Palestinian territories. Syria supported Hamas, whereas Egypt supported Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

On Iran, Syria and Egypt are even more divided, due to their different geopolitical interests and ideological stand. Since its 1979 Islamic revolution, Iran has been regarded by Cairo as a regional rival. Following the invasion of Iraq, Egypt has been watching with great concern Iran's rising influence from the Gulf to the Mediterranean. By contrast, Iran is Syria's major ally in the region. Syria does not seem to be concerned about Iran's nuclear and regional ambitions. Syria fears Israel more than Iran, and its alliance with the latter is fundamental to its national security. Syria is not bothered by the so-called "Shiite Crescent", or Iranian "revolutionary expansionism".

Political nadir

During the 2006 war on Lebanon, relations between Syria and Egypt reached their lowest ebb. Officials representing the two countries traded barbs over whether Hezbollah bore any responsibility for the escalation in violence that followed its capture of two Israeli soldiers. Similar positions emerged during the Israeli assault on Gaza in December 2008, when media from the two countries embarked in a war of words, each accusing the other of trying to split the Arab world and collaborating with foreign powers to undermine Arab interests.

Despite the offers of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to mend fences between Syria and Egypt, the two countries do not seem ready to bury the hatchet. Damascus and Cairo have clearly taken different sides in a wider struggle for domination of the region. In many ways, this conflict reflects opposing viewpoints on regional and international affairs. It also harks back to the Cold War, when the two countries were in different camps.

Conflict is not inexorable in Syrian-Egyptian relations, however. Damascus and Cairo remain the two key Arab players in the region and their cooperation is vital for the stability and prosperity of the Arab world. The withdrawal of US combat forces from Iraq, due by the end of this month, and the lack of progress in the Middle East peace process should act as a catalyst for further coordination between the two countries. If they fail to do so, other regional powers will take advantage of this intra-Arab conflict and attempt to fill the power vacuum.

Dr Marwan Al Kabalan is a member of the Centre for Strategic Studies and Research at Damascus University in Syria.