Farouk El-Baz

Director, Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University

This combo image contains photos of Egyptian presidential candidates, leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi, left, and retired Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, right. (AP)

A strong U.S.-Egyptian relationship is necessary for the United States to achieve its many objectives in the Middle East.

In the Shadow Of An Election, An Eye Toward Repairing US-Egyptian Relations

In this July 28, 2013 file photo supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi chant slogans against Egyptian Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi at Nasr City, in Cairo, Egypt. El-Sisi removed Morsi on July 3, 2013 after protests by millions demanding that the Islamist leader go. After much deliberation, Washington decided not to declare it a coup, a step that would have required a cut-off in U.S. aid. El-Sisi, as Egypt’s likely next president is confident that a strong showing in Egypt's elections May 26-27, 2014, will prove that Egyptians wanted his ouster of the country’s Islamist president, which threw relations between the two allies into their worst strains ever. (Hassan Ammar/AP)