Egypt’s mediation efforts in several regional crises show it is reasserting its traditional role as a regional power, Emad Gad says in a column penned for El Watan. He points to the reconciliation deal Egypt brokered for Palestine’s Fatah and Hamas, in addition to the agreement to unify Libya’s national army. Gad says the next step in cementing Egypt’s power is to achieve the same kind of leap in its economic strength, which would render international economic aid (and its burdensome influence on our policies) non-essential.