“This Is What Happens When You Become Greedy”

This chapter studies the cooperation with Egypt, which allowed the US to co-opt Arab countries and diminish opposition to the extension among the nonaligned countries. The chapter will focus on Egypt’s diplomacy related to Israel’s nuclear program prior to the 1995 NPT Review Conference, the discussions within Egypt held between the Council presidency and the Egyptian foreign ministry (who held opposite preferences, driven by different motivations), and then, ultimately, the negotiations in New York leading to the adoption of the Resolution on the Middle East, one of the key documents that emerged from the conference. For procedural reasons, the US had to enter into negotiations with Egypt on the latter’s acquiescence to the extension of the NPT without a vote. The price Egypt exacted for this was a resolution on the Middle East, negotiated bilaterally between Egypt and the US.