Next week, Egyptians are almost certain to elect as their new president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Unfortunately, Egypt’s current political finance regime is cloaked in darkness — and no one will be able to follow the money.
Continue readingCould sequester hit Israel?
When John Kerry takes the stage at the University of Virginia today to deliver his first major address as secretary of state, he'll be making a plea for one of the spending areas likely to draw the least amount of sympathy when the sequester axe hits. In a letter to the Senate, Kerry warned that foreign aid may have to absorb a $2.6 billion hit if a deal to avert the automatic budget cuts isn't reached.
While money U.S. taxpayers sent overseas might be considered a rare appealing target for the budget axe since there is ...
Continue readingEgyptian military aid still flying high
The planned delivery of 20 Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter planes to Egypt is the perfect symbol of iron triangles at work--special interests and their lobbyists, federal agencies and the lawmakers who fund them.
But in the years since President Dwight Eisenhower delivered his warning about the inertia of defense contracts in 1961, the lobbying has only grown more sophisticated.
The U.S. government gives Egypt foreign aid, which it uses to buy U.S. military hardware. Lobbyists for the Egyptian government and Lockheed Martin (they both used the same firm) arranged meetings between the buyer and the seller, between representatives of Egypt's military and the Defense Department and key members of Congress who provided Egypt with the U.S. taxpayer dollars--some $213 million--to pay for the planes.
Continue readingArab Spring Data
| Location | Lobbying and PR totals 2010 | Recent events | U.S. lobbying summary |
| Algeria | $205,000 | President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has remained in power since, 1999. In March, the government boosted wages of government employees to soothe protesters. Spring protests were dispersed by riot police. Small-scale protests against housing shortages and unemployment continue. | Algeria has hired Foley and Hoag since 2007. Lobbying efforts focused on reducing Morocco's influence in Western Sahara. |
| Bahrain | $63,000 | Bahrain began to crackdown on protests mid March. Protests left 30 dead, the state of emergency was lifted June 1. Negations were set up between the government ... |
Egypt’s transitional government lobbies on seeking funds, debt reduction
While the Egyptian uprising earlier this year saw the ousting of long time leader Hosni Mubarak and ignited a mass movement across the Middle East, the regime change has not translated to a different approach to U.S. policy. Lobbying records filed by the hired guns of the Egyptian government show a seamless transition from promoting the Mubarak regime to the transitional military rule, seeking funds for Egypt and then asking for a reduction in Egypt’s debt burden.
Lobbying records filed by the Livingston Group show that they lobbied the U.S. federal government and military command on these ...
Continue readingUnrest in the Middle East – Roundup of Sunlight’s Coverage
Since the unrest in the Middle East began a month ago the Sunlight Foundation has shone a unique spotlight on the lobbying efforts by the governments now facing massive protests and upheaval.
Continue readingEgypt’s Lobbyists Worked To Block Pro-Human Rights, Democracy Resolution
New disclosures filed in the past few weeks by Egypt’s lobbying team in Washington shine a light on the activity... View Article
Continue readingEgypt’s Washington Lobbying Operation Continues
On February 2, 2011, in the midst of the revolution in Egypt, the PLM Group, filed a disclosure report with... View Article
Continue readingEgypt’s Corruption Problem
There are a couple of great articles on the ways in which politics and business meld in Egypt from the... View Article
Continue readingThe Arab World’s 2010 Lobbying Contacts
The world’s focus has been rightly been focused on the ongoing revolt in Egypt. That has brought some attention to... View Article
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