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Kuwait abandons regional neutrality, backs Egypt's Sisi

Kuwait had sought to steer clear of Arab uprisings by remaining neutral, but its decision to back Egypt's Field Marshal Sisi marks a shift in policy.
Army Chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (C) attends the military funeral service of Police General Nabil Farag, who was killed on Thursday in Kerdasa, at Al-Rashdan Mosque in Cairo's Nasr City district September 20, 2013. Egyptian security forces were hunting for supporters of deposed President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood on Friday after retaking control of a town near Cairo in a crackdown on Islamists. On Thursday, army and police forces stormed Kerdasa where Islamist sympathies run deep and ho

Over the past three years of Arab revolutions, Kuwait’s foreign policies have shifted drastically, reflecting a change in its approach toward the region. During the 18 days of the Egyptian revolution, Kuwaiti authorities warned against protests at home, while attempting to remain neutral in their comments about President Hosni Mubarak’s future. Mubarak's eventual downfall was no doubt worrisome to his Kuwaiti friends, among them the ruling family, investors and nationalists.

The Egyptian army’s role in the liberation of Kuwait after its invasion by Iraq was seen as courtesy of Mubarak, but the coup d’etat that took place in Egypt on July 3, 2013 showed that Mubarak was not Kuwait and the Gulf states' only favored star. The oil countries rushed to offer their moral and financial support to the new potentate, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, employing the rhetoric of Arab nationalism. Kuwait’s changing stance in regard to Egyptian politics reveals much about the country’s political conflicts and fears.

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