Cairo will not be able to stand completely above Gulf rivalries, but tactful U.S. diplomacy on economics and regional security issues can help give Egyptian leaders enough space to continue their balancing strategy. As tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates sharpen over conflicting agendas in Yemen, Sudan, and elsewhere, Egypt is more acutely aware than ever that its economic survival and national security rely heavily on both of these Gulf rivals. Choosing to side with one or the other could be costly, yet their worsening rift makes pure neutrality more difficult to sustain. Cairo?s current strategy is best understood as one of calibrated compartmentalization: that is,...