Nasserism (Arabic: التيار الناصري at-Tayyār an-Nāṣṣarī) is a socialist Arab nationalist political ideology based on the thinking of Gamal Abdel Nasser, one of the two principal leaders of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and Egypt's second President. Spanning the domestic and international spheres, it combines elements of Arab socialism, republicanism, nationalism, anti-imperialism, Developing world solidarity, and international non-alignment. In the 1950s and 1960s, Nasserism was amongst the most potent political ideologies in the Arab world. This was especially true following the Suez Crisis of 1956 (known in Egypt as the Tripartite Aggression), the political outcome of which was seen as a validation of Nasserism, and a tremendous defeat for Western imperial powers. During the Cold War, its influence was also felt in other parts of Africa, and the developing world, particularly with regard to anti-imperialism, and non-alignment.
The scale of the Arab defeat in the Six-Day War of 1967 damaged the standing of Nasser, and the ideology associated with him. Though it survived Nasser's death in 1970, certain important tenets of Nasserism were revised or abandoned totally by his successor, Anwar Sadat, during what he termed the 'Corrective Revolution', and later his Infitah economic policies. Under the three decade rule of Sadat's successor, Hosni Mubarak, most of the remaining socialist infrastructure of Egypt was replaced by neo-liberalpolicies strongly at odds with Nasserist principles. In the international arena, Mubarak departed almost entirely from traditional Egyptian policy, becoming a steadfast ally of both the U.S. government, and Israel, the latter still viewed by most Egyptians with enmity and distrust, derived largely from the five wars that Egypt fought against Israel between 1948 and 1973.
During Nasser's lifetime, Nasserist groups were encouraged and often supported financially by Egypt, to the extent that many became seen as willing agents of the Egyptian government in its efforts to spread revolutionary nationalism in the Arab World. In the 1970s, as a younger generation of Arab revolutionaries came to the fore, Nasserism outside of Egypt metamorphosed into other Arab nationalist, and pan-Arabist movements, including component groups of the Lebanese National Movement during theLebanese Civil War. The main Nasserite movements that continued to be active until today on the Lebanese scene are mainly represented by the organization in Sidon of populist Nasserist partisans (al-Tanzim al-Sha'bi al-Nassiri) that are led by Oussama Saad, and in Beirut as represented mainly by the Mourabitoun movement. Both groups have been mainly active since the early 1950s among Sunni Muslims, and they are currently associated politically with the 'March 8' coalitions in Lebanese politics.
Nasserism continues to have significant resonance throughout the Arab world to this day, and informs much of the public dialogue on politics in Egypt, and the wider region. Prominent Nasserist Hamdeen Sabahi competed in the first round of the 2012 Egyptian Presidential election, and only narrowly avoided securing a position in the run-off against eventual winner Mohamed Morsi.
Ideology[edit]
According to Nasser's Three Circles Theory, the mission of the Egyptian Revolution had three spheres: the Arab World, Africa, and the Muslim world
Nasserism is an Arab nationalist and pan-Arabist ideology, combined with a vaguely defined socialism, often distinguished from Eastern Bloc or Western socialist thought by the label 'Arab socialism'. Though opposed ideologically to Western capitalism, Arab socialism also developed as a rejection of communism, which was seen as incompatible with Arab traditions, and the religious underpinnings of Arab society. As a consequence, Nasserists from the 1950s to the 1980s sought to prevent the rise of communism in the Arab world, and advocated harsh penalties for individuals and organizations identified as attempting to spread communism within the region.
Though mindful of the Islamic and Christian heritage of the Arab world, as with Ba'athism, Nasserism is largely a secular ideology.[1][2] Just as with other manifestations of Arab nationalism, this led to direct conflict with Islamic-oriented political movements in the Arab world from the 1950s onward, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood. Nasserists espouse an end to Western interference in Arab affairs, developing world solidarity, international non-alignment, modernisation, and industrialisation. Nasser himself was opposed vehemently to Westernimperialism, sharing the commonly held Arab view that Zionism was an extension of European colonialism on Arab soil.
In world politics, Nasser's Egypt, along with Yugoslavia under Josip Broz Tito, and India under Jawaharlal Nehru, was a major proponent of the Non-Aligned Movement, which advocated developing countries remaining outside of the influence of the superpower blocs. However, notwithstanding this policy, and government suppression of communist organisations within Egypt, Egypt's deteriorating relations with Western powers, particularly following the Tripartite Aggression of 1956, made Egypt heavily dependent on military and civil assistance from the Soviet Union. The same was true for other revolutionary Arab governments which, although repressive of communism within Arab borders, entered into strong longstanding relationships with communist states outside of the Arab world. The Egyptian-Soviet alliance continued well into the presidency of Nasser's successor as president, Anwar Sadat, especially with regard to the Arab–Israeli conflict.
Today[edit]
Nasserism remains a political force throughout the Arab world, but in a markedly different manner than in its heyday. Whereas in the 1950s and 60s, Nasserism existed as a revolutionary and dynamic movement with definite political and social goals, by the 1980s it had become a much less pronounced and distinct ideology. Today, many more Arabs are informed by Nasserism in a general sense than actually espouse its specific ideals and objectives. In terms of political organisations within Egypt itself, during the presidency of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Nasserism's scope was confined generally to writers, intellectuals, and minor opposition parties. Nasserist movements were largely overshadowed by Islamic political organisations, especially the Muslim Brotherhood. This was a part of an overall trend within Egypt and the Arab world of Arab nationalism being overshadowed, and even eclipsed, by political Islam. In Egypt, the Nasserist Party styles itself as the successor to Nasser and his Arab Socialist Union, as does its offshoot, the Karama Party of Hamdeen Sabahi. However, as with all opposition parties in Egypt, their activities was severely limited by the Mubarak regime prior to the Egyptian Revolution of 2011.
Whilst Nasser governed Egypt through a strictly authoritarian one-party system, with extreme limits on any form of political dissent, present-day Nasserists stress their support fordemocracy, explaining Nasser's autocratic excesses as necessary to implement his revolutionary policies.
Influence outside the Arab World[edit]
Despite being a quintessentially Arab ideology, Nasserism influenced, to a degree, left-wing movements in other parts of the Developing World, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America. Under Nasser, the Egyptian government gave support, both moral and material, to Sub-Saharan liberation movements fighting European imperialism. Nelson Mandela, the former South African President, and Leader of the African National Congress, remarked that this support was crucial in helping sustain the morale of such movements, including in South Africa. Similar sentiments have been expressed by Fidel Castro, the former Cuban President, with regard to the Cuban Revolution, and Cuba's later adversities with the U.S. Government. Both men stated that Egypt's resistance under Nasser against the joint British, French, and Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956 proved to be inspirational for their own movements.
Hugo Chávez, late President of Venezuela, and leader of the self-styled 'Bolivarian Revolution', cited Nasserism as a direct influence on his own political thinking, stating: "Someone talked to me about his pessimism regarding the future of Arab nationalism. I told him that I was optimistic, because the ideas of Nasser are still alive. Nasser was one of the greatest people of Arab history. To say the least, I am a Nasserist, ever since I was a young soldier."[3][4]
Left-wing British politician George Galloway has referred to Gamal Abdel Nasser as "one of the greatest men of the 20th Century",[5] and has called repeatedly for Arab governments to embrace the tenets of Nasserism in the 21st Century.
Pan-Arabism
Pan-Arabism or Arabism is an ideology espousing the unification of the countries of North Africa and West Asia from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea, referred to as the Arab world. It is closely connected to Arab nationalism, which asserts that the Arabs constitute a single nation. Its popularity was at its height during the 1950s and 1960s. Advocates of pan-Arabism have often espoused socialist principles and strongly opposed Western political involvement in the Arab world. It also sought to empower Arab states from outside forces by forming alliances and, to a lesser extent, economic co-operation
Origins and development[edit]
The origins of pan-Arabism are often attributed to Jurji Zaydan and his Nahda (Revival) movement. Zaydan had critical influence on acceptance of a modernized version of the Quranic Arabic language (Modern Standard Arabic) as the universal written and official language throughout the Arab world, instead of adoption of local dialects in the various countries. He also popularized through his historical novels certain heroes from Arab history. Pan-Arabism was first pressed by Sharif Hussein ibn Ali, the Sharif of Mecca, who sought independence for the Mashreq Arabs from the Ottoman Empire, and the establishment of a unified Arab state in the Mashreq. In 1915 and 1916, the Hussein-McMahon Correspondence resulted in an agreement between the United Kingdom and the Sharif that if the Mashreq Arabs revolted successfully against the Ottomans, the United Kingdom would support claims for Mashreq Arab independence. In 1916, however, the Sykes-Picot Agreement between the United Kingdom and France determined that parts of the Mashreq would be divided between those powers rather than forming part of an independent Arab state. When the Ottoman Empire surrendered in 1918, the United Kingdom refused to keep to the letter of its arrangements with Hussein,[2] and the two nations assumed guardianship of Mesapotamia, Lebanon, Palestine and what became modern Syria. Ultimately, Hussein became King of only Hijaz in the then less strategically valuable south but lost his Caliphate throne when the kingdom was sacked by theNajdi Ikhwan forces of the Saudites and forcefully incorporated into the newly created Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
A more formalized pan-Arab ideology than that of Hussein was first espoused in the 1930s, notably by Syrian thinkers such asConstantin Zureiq, Zaki al-Arsuzi and Michel Aflaq. Aflaq and al-Arsuzi were key figures in the establishment of the Arab Ba’ath (Renaissance) Party, and the former was for long its chief ideologist, combining elements of Marxist thought with a nationalism to a considerable extent reminiscent of nineteenth-century European romantic nationalism. It has been said that Arsuzi was fascinated with the Nazi ideology of "racial purity" and impacted Aflaq.[3][4][5]
Abdullah I of Jordan dreamed of uniting Syria, Palestine, and Jordan under his leadership in what he would call Greater Syria. He unsuccessfully proposed a plan to this effect to the United Kingdom, which controlled Palestine at that time. The plan was not popular among the majority of Arabs and fostered distrust among the leaders of the other Middle Eastern countries against Abdallah. The distrust of Abdallah's expansionist aspirations was one of the principal reasons for the founding of the Arab League in 1945.[6]Once Abdallah was assassinated by a Palestinian nationalist in 1951, the vision of Greater Syria was dropped from the Jordanian agenda.[1]
The pan-Arabist ideology has been accused of inciting prejudice against or downplaying the role of ethnic minorities such as theBerbers.[7] Although pan-Arabism began at the time of World War I, Egypt, the most populous and arguably most important Arabic-speaking country, was not interested in pan-Arabism prior to the 1950s. Thus, in the 1930s and 1940s, Egyptian nationalism, not pan-Arabism, was the dominant mode of expression of Egyptian political activists. James Jankowski wrote about Egypt at the time, "What is most significant is the absence of an Arab component in early Egyptian nationalism. The thrust of Egyptian political, economic, and cultural development throughout the nineteenth century worked against, rather than for, an 'Arab' orientation.... This situation—that of divergent political trajectories for Egyptians and Arabs—if anything increased after 1900."[8]
Attempts at Arab union[edit]
It was not until Nasser that Arab nationalism (in addition to Arab socialism) became a state policy and a means with which to define Egypt's position in the Middle East and the world,[9][10] usually articulated vis-à-vis Zionism in the neighboring Jewish state of Israel.
There have been several attempts to bring about a pan-Arab state by many well known Arab leaders, all of which ultimately resulted in failure. British Foreign Minister Anthony Eden called for Arab unity during the 1940s, and was followed by specific proposals from pro-British leaders, including King Abdullah of Transjordan and Prime Minister Nuri al-Said of Iraq, but Egyptian proposals for a broader grouping of independent Arab states prevailed with the establishment of the League of Arab States, a regional international organization, in 1945. In large part representing the popularity Nasser had gained among the masses in the Arab world following the Suez crisis, the United Arab Republic (UAR) in 1958 was the first case of the actual merger of two previously-independent Arab countries. Hastily formed under President Nasser's leadership but on the initiative of Syrian leaders who feared a takeover by communists or "reactionaries" and hoped to lead the new entity, the UAR was a unitary state, not a federal union, with its critics seeing this as hardly more than a small country being annexed by a larger one. It lasted until 1961, when Syrian army officers carried out a coup d'état and withdrew from the union. As politicians felt pressured by the wide public to espouse the idea of unity, Egypt, Syria and Iraq entered into an abortive agreement in 1963 to form the "United Arab Republic," which was to be federal in structure, leaving each member state its identity and institutions."[1] By 1961, Egypt had become the only remaining member but continued to call itself "the UAR" (thereby implying it was open for unification with other Arab countries), but it eventually renamed itself the "Arab Republic of Egypt" in 1973.[11]
Also in 1958, a Hashemite-led rival, the Arab Federation, was founded between Jordan and Iraq. Tensions with the UAR and the 14 July Revolutionmade the Arab Federation collapse after only six months. Another attempt, the United Arab States, existed as a confederation between the United Arab Republic, Arab Federation and the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen, but it dissolved in 1961.
Two later attempts represented the enthusiasm of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, the Federation of Arab Republics, which lasted five years, and the Arab Islamic Republic, which never emerged in practice. Aside from the forcible unification of much of the Arabian Peninsula by the Saudi rulers of Najd during the 1920s, the unity of seven Arab emirates that form the United Arab Emirates and the unification of North Yemen and South Yemen stand today as rare examples of actual unification. The current Syrian government is and the former government of Iraq was led by rival factions of theBa'ath Party, which continues to espouse pan-Arabism and is organised in several other countries.[when?]
Decline[edit]
The Arab defeat by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and the inability of pan-Arabist governments to generate economic growth severely damaged the credibility of pan-Arabism as a relevant ideology. "By the mid-1970s," according to The Continuum Political Encyclopedia of the Middle East, "the idea of Arab unity became less and less apparent in Arab politics, though it remained a wishful goal among the masses."[1]
Egyptians' attachment to pan-Arabism was particularly questioned after the Six-Day War. Nasser had overplayed his hand in trying to form a pan-Arab hegemony under himself. Thousands of Egyptians had lost their lives, and the country became disillusioned with Arab politics.[12] The Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel in 1978 further fractured the Arabic-speaking countries. Nasser's successor Anwar Sadat, both through public policy and his peace initiative with Israel, revived an uncontested Egyptian orientation, unequivocally asserting that only Egypt and Egyptians were his responsibility. The terms "Arab", "Arabism," and "Arab unity" became conspicuously absent.[13]
By the late 1980s, pan-Arabism began to be eclipsed by both nationalist and Islamist ideologies.
Egyptian critics of Arab nationalism contend that it has worked to erode and relegate native Egyptian identity by superimposing only one aspect of Egypt's culture. Those views and sources for collective identification in the Egyptian state are captured in the words of a linguistic anthropologist who conducted fieldwork in Cairo:
| “ | Historically, Egyptians have considered themselves as distinct from 'Arabs' and even at present rarely do they make that identification in casual contexts; il-'arab[the Arabs] as used by Egyptians refers mainly to the inhabitants of the Gulf states... Egypt has been both a leader of pan-Arabism and a site of intense resentment towards that ideology. Egyptians had to be made, often forcefully, into "Arabs" [during the Nasser era] because they did not historically identify themselves as such. Egypt was self-consciously a nation not only before pan-Arabism but also before becoming a colony of the British Empire. Its territorial continuity since ancient times, its unique history as exemplified in its pharaonic past and later on its Coptic language and culture, had already made Egypt into a nation for centuries. Egyptians saw themselves, their history, culture and language as specifically Egyptian and not "Arab. |
Nasserism is an Arab nationalist political ideology based on the thinking of the former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. It was a major influence on pan-Arab politics in the 1950s and 1960s, and continues to have significant resonance throughout the Arab World to this day. It also metamorphosed into other nationalist movements during the 1970s. However, the scale of the Arab defeat in the Six Day War of 1967 severely damaged the standing of Nasser, and the ideology associated with him. Nasser himself died in 1970, and certain important tenets of Nasserism were revised or abandoned totally by his successor as Egyptian President, Anwar El-Sadat. During Nasser's lifetime, Nasserist groups were encouraged and often supported financially by Egypt, to the extent that many became seen as willing agents of the Egyptian Government. Ideology Nasserism is an Arab nationalist and pan-Arab ideology, combined with a vaguely defined socialism, often distinguished from Eastern bloc or Western socialist thought by the label 'Arab socialism'. Though opposed ideologically to Western capitalism, Arab socialism also developed as a rejection of communism, which was seen as incompatible with Arab traditions, and the religious underpinnings of Arab society. As a consequence, Nasserists from the 1950s to the 1980s sought to prevent the rise of communism in the Arab World, and advocated harsh penalties for individuals and organizations identified as attempting to spread communism within the region. Though mindful of the Islamic and Christian heritage of the Arab World, as with Ba'athism, Nasserism is largely a secular ideology.[1] [2] Just as with other manifestations of Arab nationalism, this led to direct conflict with Islamic orientated Arab political movements from the 1950s onwards, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood. Nasserists espouse an end to Western interference in Arab affairs, Developing World and Non-Aligned solidarity, modernization, and industrialization. Nasser himself was opposed vehemently to Western imperialism, sharing the commonly held Arab view that Zionism was an extension of European colonialism on Arab soil. In world politics, Nasser's Egypt, along with Yugoslavia under Josip Broz Tito, and India under Jawaharlal Nehru, was a major proponent of the Non-Aligned Movement, which advocated developing countries remaining outside of the influence of the superpower blocs. However, notwithstanding this policy, and government suppression of communist organizations within Egypt, Egypt's deteriorating relations with Western powers, particularly following the Suez Crisis of 1956, made Egypt heavily dependent on military and civil assistance from the Soviet Union. The same was true for other revolutionary Arab governments which, although repressive of communism within Arab borders, entered into strong longstanding relationships with communist states outside of the Arab World. The Egyptian-Soviet alliance continued well into the presidency of Nasser's successor as president, Anwar El Sadat,
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Nasserism 2 especially with regard to the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Nasser and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in May 1964 Today Nasserism remains a political force throughout the Arab World, but in a markedly different manner than in its heyday. Whereas in the 1950s and 60s Nasserism existed as a revolutionary and dynamic movement with definite political and social goals, by the 1980s it had become a much less pronounced and distinct ideology. Today, many more Arabs are informed by Nasserism in a general sense than actually espouse its specific ideals and objectives. In terms of political organizations, during the presidency of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Nasserism's scope was confined generally to writers, intellectuals, and minor opposition parties. Nasserist movements were largely overshadowed by Islamic political organizations, especially the Muslim Brotherhood. This was a part of an overall trend within Egypt and the Arab World of Arab nationalism being overshadowed, and even eclipsed, by political Islam. In Egypt itself, the Nasserist Party styles itself as the successor to Nasser and his Arab Socialist Union. However, as with all opposition parties in Egypt, its activities was severely limited by the Mubarak regime prior to the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. While Nasser governed Egypt through a strictly authoritarian one-party system, with extreme limits on any form of political dissent, present-day Nasserists stress their support for democracy, explaining Nasser's autocratic excesses as necessary to implement his revolutionary policies. However, some Nasserist activists complain of persisting autocratic practices within their own ranks. Influence outside of the Arab World
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Nasserism 3 According to Nasser's Three Circles Theory, the mission of the Egyptian Revolution had three spheres: the Arab World, Africa, and the Muslim world Whilst being a quintessentially Arab ideology, Nasserism influenced, to a degree, left-wing movements in other parts of the Developing World, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America. Under Nasser, the Egyptian Government gave support, both moral and material, to Sub-Saharan liberation movements fighting European imperialism. Nelson Mandela, the former South African President and Leader of the African National Congress, remarked that this support was crucial in helping sustain the morale of such movements, including in South Africa. Similar sentiments have been expressed by Fidel Castro, the former Cuban President, with regard to the Cuban Revolution, and Cuba's later adversities against the U.S. Government. Both men stated that Egypt's resistance under Nasser against the joint British, French, and Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956 proved to be inspirational for their own movements. In the present day, Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela and leader of the self-styled 'Bolivarian Revolution', has cited Nasserism as a direct influence on his own political thinking. In an interview with Al-Jazeera that aired on August 4, 2006, Chavez said: "Someone talked to me about his pessimism regarding the future of Arab nationalism. I told him that I was optimistic, because the ideas of Nasser are still alive. Nasser was one of the greatest people of Arab history. To say the least, I am a Nasserist, ever since I was a young soldier."[3] [4] Left-wing British politician George Galloway has referred to Gamal Abdel Nasser as "one of the greatest men of the 20th Century", and has called repeatedly for Arab governments to embrace the tenets of Nasserism in the 21st Century
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