Marine Corps Base Quantico -- This academic year’s Middle East Studies lecture series at Marine Corps University will survey and analyze the armed forces of the Middle East. The series began Oct. 21 with a focus on Egypt.

Dr. Zeinab Abul-Magd, an associate professor of Middle Eastern history at Oberlin College and the American University in Cairo, presented a talk on “Egypt’s Adaptable Officers: Army, Business, and Discontent.” The lecture traced the recent history of the Egyptian Army’s role in the country’s governance and its considerable presence in the country’s economy, which Dr. Abul-Magd called “the phenomenon of Milbus”—short for Military Business.

The Egyptian Army is one of the oldest in the world. Throughout its history, it has been able to adapt to whatever type of government is in power, whether religious or secular, military or demilitarized, Abdul-Magd said.

In the 1970s, President Anwar Sadat began demilitarizing the state, reversing the policies of his predecessor Gamal Abdel Nasser. But after the 1979 peace treaty with Israel and Sadat’s subsequent assassination by Islamists, the military became stronger and began creating and expanding business interests, Abul-Magd said. This infiltration of the economy has continued and grown through 2011’s Arab Spring, which put the military in complete political control of the country, the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the current government of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

Abul-Magd said that through several umbrella organizations, the military owns farms, factories, hotels, restaurants, sporting facilities, and construction companies. These organizations were originally created so that the military wouldn’t be dependent on the private market for obtaining the food and supplies it needed, but their interests have expanded. The military is now economically involved in the country’s transportation, infrastructure, agriculture, and maritime transport.

A 12 to 36-year term of service in the military is compulsory for Egyptian men between the ages of 18 and 30, unless they are the only sons in their families. After their active-duty service, they are required to serve as reservists. Abul-Magd said there are over 600,000 conscripts in the Egyptian military. These conscripts are essentially used as cheap labor for the military’s business interests, receiving a salary of $35 a month.

Exactly how much of the economy is controlled by the military is difficult to estimate, Dr. Abul-Magd said, because military investments are considered state secrets. Its businesses are untaxed and unaudited, and there is no public accountability. But she quoted other economic scholars who have estimated as little as 2 percent and as much as 40 percent. She said the larger number may take into account the military’s control of all of Egypt’s desert, where nothing can be built without its authorization.

Another concern, Abul-Magd said, is that the new constitution, which was drafted in January of 2014, states that many government positions can only be occupied by ex-military officers.

She said that Egypt is currently in an economic crisis and that the military officers in key political positions are not doing a good job handling the situation.

“We trust officers to protect the country, but have they studied economics, political science, or history?” Abul-Magd asked. “Isn’t it time to share the ruling of the country with civilians?”

The next lecture in the series will be a panel discussion on Iran, scheduled for November 20. For more information about the Middle East Studies lecture series, please visit http://www.mcu.usmc.mil/SitePages/Middle_East_Studies.aspx or call (703) 432-5260.

— Writer: auphausconner@quanticosentryonline.com