U.S.–Egypt Partnership Shines in Bright Star 2025 Joint Military Exercise
From Counterterrorism to Mediation: Egypt Showcases Its Regional Role with Bright Star 2025
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — The U.S. military will join the Egyptian Armed Forces and other partner nations for Exercise BRIGHT STAR 2025 at Egypt’s Mohamed Naguib Military Base from Aug. 28 to Sept. 10, 2025, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced Sunday. CENTCOM said the drills build on the “strategic security relationship between Egypt and the United States,” underscoring their partnership in counterterrorism, regional security, and combating violent extremism.
U.S. military forces will join the Egyptian Armed Forces, as well as other participating nations, for Exercise BRIGHT STAR 2025 at Mohamed Naguib Military Base, Egypt, 28 August – 10 September 2025. BRIGHT STAR 2025 builds on the strategic security relationship between Egypt and… https://t.co/CBvvqC7xSq
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) August 24, 2025
Launched in 1980 and held roughly every two years, Bright Star is one of the region’s longest-running and largest multinational exercises, focused on interoperability, command-and-control, and large-scale field training across air, land, and maritime domains. The 2023 iteration was also hosted at Mohamed Naguib and jointly led by Egypt and U.S. Central Command, highlighting the depth of the military relationship. Local reports indicate this year’s drills will again draw broad participation from dozens of countries.
The modern U.S.–Egypt relationship was significantly reshaped by the 1978 Camp David Accords and the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty of 1979, which was brokered with decisive U.S. involvement. Those agreements ended a state of war between Egypt and Israel and opened a new era of U.S.–Egypt security cooperation that continues to frame Washington’s regional diplomacy.
Since the late 1970s, Egypt has been a cornerstone U.S. security partner outside NATO, receiving sustained U.S. security assistance—most notably about $1.3 billion annually in Foreign Military Financing—aimed at modernizing the Egyptian Armed Forces and supporting joint interoperability, including through exercises like Bright Star.
Cumulatively, U.S. bilateral aid to Egypt has totaled tens of billions of dollars over the decades, reflecting Egypt’s centrality to U.S. policy in the Middle East.
Beyond hard security, Egypt routinely serves as a pivotal mediator in regional crises—leveraging ties with Israel, Palestinian factions (including Hamas), and Arab states. Cairo brokered the May 2021 Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas after the 11 days of conflict and has repeatedly convened or joined talks with Qatar and the United States to halt fighting, secure hostage releases, and coordinate humanitarian access during subsequent escalations.
Egyptian envoys have remained active through 2024–2025, including efforts alongside Qatar and the U.S. to craft multi-week pauses and broader ceasefire frameworks between Israel and Hamas.
Against this backdrop, BRIGHT STAR 2025 is both a practical training event and a signal: it showcases the U.S.–Egypt defense partnership’s longevity and Cairo’s enduring role as a regional security linchpin—militarily through interoperability and politically through mediation in the Middle East’s most volatile conflicts.
