Amy Hawthorne

This Q&A explains the law’s complicated requirements, which mirror the labyrinthine nature of the FMF program itself. The complexity also reflects the fact that the law represents a compromise among the demands of competing stakeholders in the administration and Congress. These include those who do not want the military aid relationship to be linked to Egypt’s internal political situation, on the one hand, and democracy promoters who want to condition this aid on democratic progress in Egypt, on the other. The article describes what aid has been released, what has not moved forward—mostly, orders for some new defense items—and possible next steps by Congress. (A previous article discussed the Obama administration’s suspension, announced in October 2013, the delivery of four big-ticket weapons systems—Apache attack helicopters, F-16 fighter jets, M1A1 Abrams battle tank kits, and Harpoon missiles—pending “credible progress” toward democracy in Egypt. The suspension was an executive branch decision, and as such is separate from the requirements of the 2014 law.)