1. Pan-Arabism and The Arab Cold War

2. Sati al-Husri “How Strange”
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!
Al Husri influenced by German and Italian nationalists
Distinction between civilisation and culture
Diglossia of the Arabic language

3. Origins
In 1911, Muslim intellectuals and politicians formed al-Fatat ("the Young Arab Society")
Arab Congress of 1913 in Paris, discuss desired reforms with other dissenting individuals from the Arab world
Arab Revolt during the First World War
Damascus became the center of the Arab nationalist movement

4. Ideology
“unite all the Arabic-speaking peoples within a single country.”
Arab specific doctrine of liberation
End of Western dominance
Overthrow of Arab governments dependent on the West

5. Jordan
Abdallah 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

6. Egypt, Nasserism 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 Arab nationalist sentiments
Wave of decolonization through the developing world
Waning British imperial power
power vacuum in the Middle East
Imense personal charisma of Nasser

7. Super Power Competition
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.
Avoid dependence on either of the competing powers,
Play the fears and ambitions of the super-powers against each other
Egypt belonged to no defense pact, hosted no foreign bases, and professed neither capitalism nor communism

8. Egypt’s Hegemonic Position
Dis-advantages
Advantages
lack of oil
short on arable 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

9. 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 limitless ambitions
Created economic tensions that foreign aid could not make up for
Failure to limit government expenditures

10. Syria, Objectives more local than regional.
(Greater Syria) Bilad al Sham
Hafez al-Assad, regional and international policies were tailored to Syria's own interests.
Viewed union with Egypt as a means of gaining legitimacy

11. Iraq
1958 Monarchy overthrown, Abd al Karim Qasim, "Iraq first" policy;
1963 Ba’th Party takes power
The failure of the UAR spreads disillusionment with Arab Nationalism

12. Termination of the Unification Cause
1967 Six Day War
1970 Death of Nasser
Anwar al Sadat, Camp David Accords 1978

13. Sources of Failure Common distrust and hegemonic ambitions
Failure of economic mobilization
Skepticism from Shi’ite Arabs, ethnic minorities
Political weakness, common to the Ottoman Empire’s Arab successor states

14. Arab Cold War
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

15. Republics vs Monarchs 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,

16. Yemen Civil War September 1962, coupe in Sana
Military officers succeeded in overthrowing the Imamate, a dynastic institution of Zaydi religious rulers.
1962 – 1967 Egyptian Expeditionary Force 70,000 troops, extensive military costs
End of United Arab Republic
Increased Egyptian isolation from Republican partners

17. Yemen Civil War 1962 - 70 Republican victory
Egypt unable to fully commit to either Yemen or Israel in 1967, resulting in defeats in both theatres.

18. Economic Consequences
Loss of US aid, increased debt to USSR (3 Billion by 1965)
income taxes raised
"defense tax" on all sales
cost of luxury goods up 25%
raised workers' compulsory monthly savings by 50%,,
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

19. The Decline of Arab Nationalism
1967 reduced Egyptian capabilities as the leader of Arab Nationalism
1970 Death of Nasser leads Sadat who follows an Egyptian centred policies
national interest policies also become dominant in Syria, Iraq, Jordan
Shift of partnership away from USSR

20. End of the Arab Cold War 1979 End of the Arab Cold War
Republics vs Monarchs, replaced by sectarian divisions resulting from the Iranian Revolution
The Rise of Political Islam
The failure of the Pan Arabism leaves a void of a unity narrative
Islam resurges as a unifying political force