How America Got Its Hands on Egypt

The Libertarian Institute · Oct 22, 2026

After Hosni Mubarak became president of Egypt in 1981, his government maintained a close relationship with the United States.

Over the following decades, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) would become increasingly involved in reforming Egypt’s economy, including its agricultural and banking sectors.

As soon as the 1980s, USAID funded an Agricultural Mechanization Project that helped finance the purchase of American farming equipment.

As economist Timothy Mitchell later noted however, the program mostly benefited wealthier landowners who could afford the equipment…