Sisi rose through an army that was rapidly reorienting itself away from the Soviet Union and toward the United States. Today more than half of Egypt’s combat aircraft, and nearly two-thirds of its tanks, are American-made; it relies heavily on the United States for maintenance and spare parts—to the tune of $1.3 billion in annual military aid from Washington, which covers some 80 percent of Cairo’s arms purchases. Big-ticket items are bought on credit: Egypt can make large orders now, and pay for them over a period of several years, an arrangement known as “cash-flow financing.” Israel is the only other country that enjoys this privilege.
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