A U.S. Navy visit to a newly openned Egyptian military facility sends an important signal to both Egypt and to the brewing geopolitics of the Red Sea. The Guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61) made a port visit to the Berenice Naval Base. The base is located East of the city of Aswan on Egypt’s Red Sea coast. The visit was also important because United States Navy Vice Admiral Charles Cooper II, Commander of the Naval Forces of the US Central Command joined in the visit as did US Ambassador to Egypt Jonathan Cohen. The visit is important for Egypt which hopes to benefit from its April decision to join Combined Maritime Forces (CMF). Egypt is the 34th country in CMF an effort to combine anti-trafficing, anti-piracy and maritime stability resources in the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. The recent high-profile port visit is important for this reason politically and for continued American efforts to interest Egypt in American naval hardware.
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