Egypt

From RationalWiki

Egypt is a state in North-East Africa. It is the only African state to be considered part of the Middle East, in part because of its border with Asia, and in part because of its large Arab population. Roughly 40 years ago, Egypt went to war with Israel, but it was also the first state in the region to make peace with Israel and acknowledge its existance.

Egypt is also the birthplace of one of the oldest civilizations in the world, and houses the only surviving "Wonder of the Classical World."

The current "president" of Egypt, Mubarak, is actually a fairly benign autocrat, though he does have the rather nasty habit of locking up political rivals. The US tends to turn a blind eye to this behavior since said rivals tend to be Islamic Nationalists, such as the Muslim Brotherhood. He receives a great deal of American aid, because he is seen as a "moderate" in a region full of reactionaries, and because Egypt is one of the few Middle Eastern nations to have recognized Israel's right to exist (though the main journalism organization (and the Writer's Guild and the Actor's Guild in Egypt) has forbid normalization with Israel). Moreover, the aid is in part the price of Egypt's continued recognition of and peace with Israel, as agreed by Jimmy Carter in the Camp David accords.