The Art of Crisis Management

The Experience of History Egypt and China faced similar international crises, yet their responses and subsequent outcomes were starkly different. China successfully managed its crisis, while Egypt failed and paid a heavy price. In the case of China, Hong Kong, an island off its coast, was leased to Britain for 99 years under a treaty drawn up in 1898. Rather than resorting to unilateral actions, China engaged in peaceful negotiations with Britain. Upon the lease’s expiration, the United Kingdom restored Hong Kong to China on July 1, 1997, in accordance with the agreement. This peaceful resolution stands as a testament to China’s effective crisis management. The story of the Suez Canal of Egypt is quite different. The Suez Canal Company was created in 1858 to build and operate the Suez Canal. The relevant land was leased to it for 99 years from the time of the opening of the canal in 1869. After the 1952 coup in which King Farouk was overthrown, Gamal Abdel Nasser ruled as president of Egypt from 1956 to 1970. After some time as president, he announced the nationalization of the canal on July 26, 1956. But the 99-year lease granted to the Suez Canal Company still had twelve years to run. This provoked the week-long Suez Crisis. In retaliation, the UK, France, and Israel joined forces to invade Egypt and defeated the Egyptian forces. Later in the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel launched a massive air assault that crippled the Egyptian air capability. With air superiority it was able to control the Sinai peninsula within three days and then it captured