image sourced from original article at Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty met with his Syrian counterpart Asaad al-Shaibani in Cairo, highlighting a striking shift in regional politics. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi rose to power in 2013 after removing the Muslim Brotherhood government of Mohamed Morsi, framing political Islam as an existential threat to the Arab state system. Since then, Egypt has designated the Brotherhood a terrorist organization and pursued a sustained crackdown against Islamist movements at home and abroad.
The meeting underscores a notable irony: after spending a decade positioning itself as a bulwark against political Islam, Egypt is now engaging diplomatically and economically with a Syrian government that includes Islamist elements. Cairo’s willingness to cooperate, including through energy ties, signals a pragmatic turn in foreign policy shaped more by economic and regional considerations than by ideological opposition.
The development reflects shifting alliances in the Middle East, where economic pressures and geopolitical recalculations are prompting former adversaries to explore cooperation. For Egypt, energy exports and regional influence appear to be taking precedence over its longstanding anti-Islamist doctrine.
