Egyptian responses to Turkey’s MENA policy from the Arab spring to the Gaza crisis: sub-imperialisms and regional order

Abstract This paper unpacks the nature and drivers of Egypt’s relations with Turkey from 2011 until 2024. I conceptualise both states as ‘sub-imperialist’ powers that while remaining dependent upon the West enjoy relative autonomy to influence their regional environment. The paper analyses Egyptian responses to Turkish attempts to shape the Egyptian and other regional political systems, assume a leading role in mediating the conflict in Israel–Palestine, and intervene in Libya through three phases: (1) a brief moment of alignment from 2011 to 2013; (2) a period of discord that spanned the years 2013 to 2022; and (3) a phase of rapprochement from 2022 until the time of writing. The paper’s central argument is that Egypt’s policies were conditioned by its dependency upon the USA and close relationship with Saudi Arabia, as well as its domestic political situation, and that its securitised modality of sub-imperialist expansion has so far prevailed over Ankara’s attempts to export the Turkish model as a political framework supportive of Western imperialism.