Abstract:

In civil-military relations, the focus is generally on the domestic variables. The article main hypothesis is that the foreign relations of Egypt have significant impact on the civil-military relations inside Egypt. The article reviewed the hypothesis by examining the foreign relations of Egypt during different periods which represents different political regimes adopting variant foreign policy orientations.

The study focuses on Egypt’s relations with United States and Soviet Union and later Russia in international level. Also it focuses on Egypt’s relations with Israel and Gulf countries especially Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates in regional level.

The article concludes that the foreign countries interaction with Egypt can be addressed as a main factor that strongly shaped the relative balance of political powers between civilians and the military. The significance of the external factor on the civil-military relations was persistent despite the foreign policy orientations changed widely throughout historical advancement, and this prevented democratic transition.