Unlikely Enterprise

The story of the success of public-private partnership between the U.S. and Egypt as told by the leaders who made it happen, and co-written by a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist What happens when the United States launches an unconventional foreign aid program in the Arab world's most populous country following the 2011 Egyptian revolution? In this suspenseful, behind the scenes look into the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund-a private investment fund established by the US Congress to strengthen Egypt's private sector in the wake of the Arab Spring-An Unlikely Enterprise tells the story of one of the most successful, yet little known, U.S. foreign policy programs in recent decades. Through the firsthand account of the Fund's chairman James Harmon, a seasoned investment banker and former Clinton administration official, An Unlikely Enterprise details the complex logistical, business, and political challenges that he faced as he set out to fulfill the program's aims of achieving job creation, catalyzing foreign investment, increasing women's participation in the labor force, and building the infrastructure of post-2011 Egypt-from digitized pharmacies to modern primary care and inclusive education. All against a backdrop of political instability, anti-Americanism, and Washington dysfunction. At a time when US foreign aid is being scaled back, An Unlikely Enterprise is a powerful reminder of the value the United States can play in fostering economic growth across the world. It also offers a blueprint for a new model of economic diplomacy that can tackle urgent development challenges while delivering real returns for US taxpayers.