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A HISTORY OF HOPE
In the United States, a sure sign spring is around the corner occurs each February 6, when a drowsy groundhog named Phil is hauled from his cozy den in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to predict whether there will be six more weeks of winter. In Egypt, we know winter is on the wane when preparations get under way in earnest for AmCham’s annual DoorKnock mission to Washington, DC, 177 miles from Punxsutawney.
Since 1985, mission members have knocked on doors to strengthen US-Egypt relations. As economies crawl out of recession, the DoorKnock mission has never been more important, or this year’s theme – “Egypt: A Regional Trade Hub for the US” – more apt.
Last month, I had the pleasure of meeting Max Rodenbeck, chief Middle East correspondent for The Economist and author of Cairo: The City Victorious, one of the 50 or so volumes that accompanied me to Egypt. It should be required reading for anyone who might spend any time in Cairo.
One of the foremost messages of AmCham DoorKnockers will be Egypt’s superb location for trade. Cairo’s curriculum vitae in that regard is lengthy and impressive. Thousand-year-old records unearthed at the Synagogue of Ben Ezra in Old Cairo, Rodenbeck reminds us, “picture a prosperous and astonishingly cosmopolitan trading society.” Rather than slaves or “crystal wands for the application of kohl,” today’s traders deal in oil, computer chips and myriad other commodities.
Historically, most of Egypt’s rulers have welcomed trade, and this issue examines the climate for commerce in the country today. Tamer Hafez explains macroeconomic policies and considers how they can influence foreign investment. Not to overlook the microeconomic side of the coin, Rashad Mahmood talks about opening a small business with Americans who have done it. And on an issue of interest to businesses large and small, Mahmood gets reactions on the proposed social insurance law.
The safety and adequacy of the food supply has been an issue since ancient times. Because harvests depended on the Nile – “whose capriciousness was indiscriminate,” writes Rodenbeck – brutal droughts and famines were common. During a seven-year dearth that began in 1065, according to Rodenbeck, a loaf of bread could cost 12 dinars, “a price so far beyond the reach of the poor that some were said to have resorted to fitting meat hooks to ropes so as to fish unlucky pedestrians off the streets and eat them.” Things are better today, as Sarah Marquer reports, but food security remains a concern.
As we look to the future, we could do worse than revisit the past, to remember that this city and country have faced inarguably more daunting, dispiriting conditions than are present today and overcame them. There is no reason to believe that will change.
Bertil G. Peterson
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