What Egypt Means for the U.S.

What do the recent events in Egypt mean for the U.S.? The answer is a lot more complicated than it might seem. Egypt is important to the U.S. for a number of reasons. Topping the list is oil, and the flow of oil, for which the Suez Canal is an important transit conduit. There is no reason to believe that a successor to the Mubarak government would interrupt the flow of oil, but you could imagine events in the area that could interrupt the flow, and we’re seeing this concern reflected in the markets. There is also the concern that what is happening in Egypt is contagious, and that it could lead to instability in other, seemingly analogous states – the most important of which is Saudi Arabia.