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Egypt's Transformed Military
(Middle East Institute) Graeme Bannerman - The Egyptian army is very different from the American army. It is an institution largely self-sustained through enterprises such as farms, factories and hospitals, with the dual purposes of defending the nation against external threats and preserving domestic stability. Members of the military live on cantonments and do not participate in the national political process. They cannot vote in elections. Thirty years of military cooperation with the U.S. in some ways has transformed the military. Thirty years ago the officer corps was trained and educated in the Soviet bloc. Today, thousands of officers have trained with Americans. The writer, a scholar at the Middle East Institute, is a former Staff Director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.