Egypt

President Carter’s interest in Middle East peace dated back to the Camp David Accords of 1978, when the Carter administration helped broker peace between Egypt and Israel, and continued after he left the White House. Following the January 2011 revolution that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak, the Center established a field office in Cairo to observe the 2011-2012 parliamentary and 2012 presidential elections.  

Our Work and Methods 

Center missions led by President Carter and Jason Carter observed parliamentary and presidential elections, which were found to be restrictive but broadly representative of the will of the people. A small team of Center experts remained in Egypt as the political environment became increasingly polarized. The team assessed:  

• The constitution-drafting process and preparations for new parliamentary elections 
• The broader political process and the text of the new constitution
• The worsening human rights situation and exclusion of key actors from the political process 

The results of the parliamentary and presidential elections did not last. The Supreme Constitutional Court dissolved the newly elected People’s Assembly in June 2012. Then, in July 2013, the Egyptian military ousted President Mohamed Morsi and announced a new transition plan.  

We maintained a presence in Cairo until October 2014, when the highly restrictive political environment and crackdown on civil society organizations prompted us to close our field office there.