This implies that it is subject to a specific prioritization based on available resources and the nature of the prevailing political moment.

This means the tools for implementing foreign policy change from one phase to another.

It applies to the foreign policy of any state but does not necessarily mean that it is easy to describe or understand every state's foreign policy.

In some cases, understanding a country's foreign policy without introducing some additional variables or factors is difficult.

It is difficult to subject it to many concepts or theoretical frameworks that explain this policy, despite the availability of many manifestations and indicators that make some of these concepts or frameworks the most suitable for understanding a particular state's foreign policy.

This is true in the case of Egypt's foreign policy towards its regional environment, which cannot be understood without considering a set of important determinants.

One of the important characteristics of a state's foreign policy is that it is based on a central concept that defines its goals, tools, and constraints on its external movement.

For example, the foreign policy of many countries is based on the concept of "non-alignment," a concept that governed the relations of these countries, including Egypt, during the Cold War with the great powers and their direct or indirect conflicts.

Another example is the US foreign policy based on the "Monroe Doctrine," which was announced by US President James Monroe in December 1823 and governed the US relationship with the countries of the Americas; hence, it governed the US relationship with the European colonial powers at that time.

Similarly, the German foreign policy between the First and Second World Wars was based on "lebensraum."

Constructing the governing concept of a state's foreign policy is not a simple process. It is a process subject to complex calculations and assessments that include the nature of the international system, the nature of major international policies, the state of the surrounding region, the nature of the relationship with regional powers, patterns of major threats to the state's national security, the size of the available political and financial resources, and the nature of the political leadership and national elite responsible for making foreign policy.

A state's foreign policy can be governed by a set of concepts that work harmoniously, not necessarily a single concept.

In the Egyptian case, a set of basic principles have governed its foreign policy towards the Middle East region since 2014, the most important of which is "calculated engagement."

In contrast to the principle of "isolation" or "strategic hibernation," Egypt has pursued a policy that can be described as "calculated engagement" or "cautious engagement."

This means Egypt practised a kind of "engagement" with the region when it was necessary to protect Egyptian national security or maintain regional stability and security. However, it practised "isolation" or "hibernation" when that was also necessary to preserve this stability.

In the Egyptian case, the policy of "calculated engagement" or "caution" is governed by specific controls.

First comes the priority of protecting Egyptian national security. This means that the degree of intensity/violence of the tools used in implementing this "engagement" varies according to the level and size of the threat to Egyptian national security.

The greater the risks of this threat and the more obvious it is, the more intense and "rough" this "engagement" becomes, up to the actual use of force (the model of using military force outside Egyptian territory in 2015 and 2017).

Second, it remains an "ethical policy." This means it remains governed by a set of principles, the most important of which is non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, respect for the principle of sovereignty, and maintaining the security and stability of the region.

Even when Egypt used military force outside its territory, it did so in coordination and partnership with neighbouring states, and indeed in a way that serves its national security (destroying terrorist organizations operating on its territory).

Third, the practice of what is described as "strategic patience." This means the possibility of exercising the utmost restraint in the face of negative behaviours of regional actors, and betting, in return, on the tendency of these actors to engage in a kind of "self-review."

Such a policy may create political and diplomatic burdens, but it represents, in some cases, the optimal policy for dealing with some actors in the longer term under certain conditions.

Egypt has succeeded in applying this policy effectively against several actors over the past decade, and it has yielded important results.

The ethical nature of Egyptian foreign policy makes it difficult to subject it to some traditional frameworks and concepts in the literature of foreign policy and international relations, despite the availability of some manifestations and indicators of these concepts in some behaviours of Egyptian foreign policy towards the region.

One example of this is the concept of "lebensraum," which was developed by the German geographer Friedrich Ratzel at the end of the 19th century in his famous book "Political Geography," and then his article entitled "Lebensraum" in 1901.

The concept is based on the idea that a society that successfully adapts to a particular geographical area is likely to naturally and logically expand its nation's borders to another area. This establishes the state's right to external expansion and expansion as a natural response to surplus growth and power or to deal with specific challenges.

This concept formed the basis for German colonial expansion between the First and Second World Wars to establish a colonial empire and as part of a solution to the problem of population growth within Germany at that time.

Some may view the military cooperation protocol between Egypt and Somalia, which allows for the deployment of Egyptian forces to Somalia, as an example of Egypt's application of the concept of "lebensraum" in the sense that Friedrich Ratzel formulated.

However, in reality, there are fundamental differences between the two cases. This protocol does not in any way express Egypt's expansion of its vital space according to Friedrich Ratzel's concept. It rather expresses, on the one hand, Egypt's commitment to protecting its direct national security, given the link between Egyptian national security and the security of the Horn of Africa region, which represents a main entrance to the Red Sea.

On the other hand, it expresses Egypt's commitment to supporting a brotherly Arab state in the face of serious threats.

This is not the first time Egypt has been involved in supporting a brotherly Arab state. The country was a key player in the international coalition to liberate the State of Kuwait in 1991, a support linked primarily to the commitment to the sovereignty of Somalia and non-interference in its internal affairs.

In conclusion, Egyptian foreign policy represents a model of foreign policies that cannot be understood in isolation from a set of considerations unavailable in traditional foreign policies. It is also difficult to subject it to some traditional concepts.