Pan-Arabism and The Arab Cold War

We rebelled against the English; we rebelled against the French...We rebelled against those who colonized our land and tried to enslave us...We repeated the red revolutions many times, and we continued with our white revolutions over a number of years...And for this we endured so much suffering, sustained so many losses, and sacrificed so many lives...But, When we finally gained our liberty, we began to sanctify the borders that they had instituted after they had divided our land...And we forgot that these borders were but the boundaries of the "solitary confinement" and the "house arrest" which they had imposed on us!

 In 1911, Muslim intellectuals and politicians formed al-Fatat ("the Young Arab Society")  Arab Congress of 1913 in Paris, discuss desired reforms  Arab Revolt during the First World War  Damascus became the center of the Arab nationalist movement  the seat of Faysal—the first Arab "sovereign" after nearly 400 years of Turkish suzerainty

 “ unite all the Arabic-speaking peoples within a single country.”  Arab specific doctrine of liberation  end of Western influence  removal of Arab governments dependent on the West  Secular state informed by Islamic principles that understands Islam as an Arab gift to the world

 Three Circles Theory: Africa Middle East, the World  Socialism, independence, non-alignment  Arab unity under Egyptian hegemony  circumstances contributing to the rise of Nasserism  weak legitimacy of the post-Ottoman states  surge in pan-Arab sentiments  wave of decolonization through the developing world  waning British imperial power  power vacuum in the Middle East  personal charisma of al Nasser

 The success of Nasserism depended upon 4 conditions  1) advanced weaponry  2) healthy, independent economy  3) ideology of transnational appeal  4) influence on the world stage.  Marshall Tito: maximize foreign aid and political clout in the context of the Cold War  Avoid dependence on either of the competing powers,  play one against the other.  Neutralism  Egypt belonged to no defense pact, hosted no foreign bases, and professed neither capitalism nor communism

DIS-ADVANTAGESADVANTAGES  lack of oil  short on farm land  weighed down by a rapidly growing population  Egypt’s cultural and political centrality  strategic geographical position  US foreign Aide, Soviet Weapons  1956 Suez Crisis  Cult of Personality, Nasser

NASSER’S STRATEGY LIMITATIONS  (Soviet Model) Agriculture was to be transformed from above into an industrial powerhouse  substituting state enterprise for private property and local production for foreign imports  Manipulate super powers through neutrality  Appeal to the regional and global masses  Undermine conservative regimes  army that was magnificent in parade but impotent in battle  gulf between the regime’s rhetoric and its approach to implementation  inconsistency between limited resources and the limitless ambitions  Created economic tensions that foreign aid could not make up for  Failure to limit government expenditures

 Abdullah of Jordan dreamed of uniting Syria, Palestine, and Jordan under his leadership in what he would call Greater Syria  distrust of Abdallah's expansionist aspirations was one of the principal reasons for the founding of the Arab League in 1945  Abdallah assassinated 1951  1958 Arab Federation, Jordan and Iraq.  Collapsed due to tensions with the UAR and the 14 July Revolution

 Abd al-Karim Qasim, "Iraq first" policy;  emphasizing the country's historical status as the cradle of great pre-Arab civilizations  Hussein: “When we talk about the Arab homeland, we should not neglect to educate the Iraqi to take pride in the piece of land in which he lives.”  Syria; objectives more local than regional.  (Greater Syria)  UAR Syrian delegation to al Nasser, "We need to exploit your Excellency's name that's all there is to it.“  Hafez al-Assad, regional and international policies were tailored to Syria's own interests.

 Malcolm Kerr sought “to dispel the notion of Arab politics as a projection of decisions made in Washington, London, Moscow, and Jerusalem.”  Arab cold war cemented alliances between the revolutionary republics\USSR and the Monarchies\ US

 Revolutionary Republics  Iraq, Syria, Egypt  Nasser champion of secular pan-Arabism  Conservative Monarchies  Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf Kingdoms  King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, guardian of the holy sites of Islam,

 1956 Suez Crisis  1962 – 70 Yemen Civil War  1967 Six Day War  1973 October War  1978 Camp David Agreement

 1951 Anglo Egyptian Treaty abrogated  ‘Playing the Superpowers’. Recognition of China, Arms deal with USSR  US withdraws financial support for Aswan Dam  Nationalization, Alexandria Speech, Ferdinand de Lesseps  1956 Tripartite Aggression, Britain, France, Israel  Retake Suez and overthrow Nasser

 Diplomatic Pressure US, USSR, UN forced withdrawal  US blocked UK IMF Loans and threatened Israel with sanctions  Saudi Arabia oil embargo on UK, France  Canal re-opened April 1957 after the last IDF troops left Egypt in March

 September 1962, a coup d’état in Sana  ˙military officers succeeded in overthrowing the Imamate, a dynastic institution of Zaydi religious rulers.  1962 – 1967 Egyptian Expeditionary Force 70,000, extensive military costs  End of United Arab Republic  Increased Egyptian isolation from Republican partners

 1) advanced weaponry  2) healthy, independent economy  3) ideology of transnational appeal  4) influence on the world stage.

 Loss of US aid, increased debt to USSR (3 Billion by 1965)  Increased taxation  Weakened industry.  military expenditures were increased, by $140 million to an estimated $1 billion  Egypt was losing $5,000,000 a week in revenues from the closing of the Suez Canal and Israeli occupation 1967

 Republican victory  1967 Egypt forced to redeploy troops to Sinai  1967 – 71 Disengagement  Casualties Saudi Arabia, 1,000  Egypt 26,000

 Crushing defeat for the Arab coalition  Loss of Sinai Peninsula  Israel lauches pre-emptive airstrikes following build up of Egyptian forces  Casualties,  Israel 1000  Arab Coalition 20,000

 1967 reduced Egyptian capabilities as the van guard of Arab Nationalism  1970 Death of Nasser leads Sadat to follow similar national interest policies as Syria, Iraq  Shift of partnership away from USSR

 October War 1973  Camp David Accords 1978, Recognition of the Israeli state  al-Sadat “only Egypt and Egyptians are my responsibility”

 Common distrust and hegemonic ambitions  UAR, Syrian army officers carried out a coup d'état and withdrew from the union  Failure of economic mobilization  Skepticism from Shi’ite Arabs, ethnic minorities  1967 Six Day War  Political weakness, common to the Ottoman Empire’s Arab successor states  deficit of legitimacy.

 Recognition of Israel  Formal Diplomatic Relations  Return of the Sinai to Egypt  Transfer of Authority in Gaza and West Bank  End of Israeli settlement