Nasser's Gamble

Nasser's Gamble PDF Author: Jesse Ferris
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691155143
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Nasser's Gamble draws on declassified documents from six countries and original material in Arabic, German, Hebrew, and Russian to present a new understanding of Egypt's disastrous five-year intervention in Yemen, which Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser later referred to as "my Vietnam." Jesse Ferris argues that Nasser's attempt to export the Egyptian revolution to Yemen played a decisive role in destabilizing Egypt's relations with the Cold War powers, tarnishing its image in the Arab world, ruining its economy, and driving its rulers to instigate the fatal series of missteps that led to war with Israel in 1967. Viewing the Six Day War as an unintended consequence of the Saudi-Egyptian struggle over Yemen, Ferris demonstrates that the most important Cold War conflict in the Middle East was not the clash between Israel and its neighbors. It was the inter-Arab struggle between monarchies and republics over power and legitimacy. Egypt's defeat in the "Arab Cold War" set the stage for the rise of Saudi Arabia and political Islam. Bold and provocative, Nasser's Gamble brings to life a critical phase in the modern history of the Middle East. Its compelling analysis of Egypt's fall from power in the 1960s offers new insights into the decline of Arab nationalism, exposing the deep historical roots of the Arab Spring of 2011.

Nasser's Gamble

Nasser's Gamble PDF Author: Jesse Ferris
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691155143
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Nasser's Gamble draws on declassified documents from six countries and original material in Arabic, German, Hebrew, and Russian to present a new understanding of Egypt's disastrous five-year intervention in Yemen, which Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser later referred to as "my Vietnam." Jesse Ferris argues that Nasser's attempt to export the Egyptian revolution to Yemen played a decisive role in destabilizing Egypt's relations with the Cold War powers, tarnishing its image in the Arab world, ruining its economy, and driving its rulers to instigate the fatal series of missteps that led to war with Israel in 1967. Viewing the Six Day War as an unintended consequence of the Saudi-Egyptian struggle over Yemen, Ferris demonstrates that the most important Cold War conflict in the Middle East was not the clash between Israel and its neighbors. It was the inter-Arab struggle between monarchies and republics over power and legitimacy. Egypt's defeat in the "Arab Cold War" set the stage for the rise of Saudi Arabia and political Islam. Bold and provocative, Nasser's Gamble brings to life a critical phase in the modern history of the Middle East. Its compelling analysis of Egypt's fall from power in the 1960s offers new insights into the decline of Arab nationalism, exposing the deep historical roots of the Arab Spring of 2011.

The Struggle for Egypt

The Struggle for Egypt PDF Author: Steven A. Cook
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019992080X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 424

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Book Description
The recent revolution in Egypt has shaken the Arab world to its roots. The most populous Arab country and the historical center of Arab intellectual life, Egypt is a linchpin of the US's Middle East strategy, receiving more aid than any nation except Israel. This is not the first time that the world and has turned its gaze to Egypt, however. A half century ago, Egypt under Nasser became the putative leader of the Arab world and a beacon for all developing nations. Yet in the decades prior to the 2011 revolution, it was ruled over by a sclerotic regime plagued by nepotism and corruption. During that time, its economy declined into near shambles, a severely overpopulated Cairo fell into disrepair, and it produced scores of violent Islamic extremists such as Ayman al-Zawahiri and Mohammed Atta. In The Struggle for Egypt, Steven Cook--a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations--explains how this parlous state of affairs came to be, why the revolution occurred, and where Egypt might be headed next. A sweeping account of Egypt in the modern era, it incisively chronicles all of the nation's central historical episodes: the decline of British rule, the rise of Nasser and his quest to become a pan-Arab leader, Egypt's decision to make peace with Israel and ally with the United States, the assassination of Sadat, the emergence of the Muslim Brotherhood, and--finally--the demonstrations that convulsed Tahrir Square and overthrew an entrenched regime. Throughout Egypt's history, there has been an intense debate to define what Egypt is, what it stands for, and its relation to the world. Egyptians now have an opportunity to finally answer these questions. Doing so in a way that appeals to the vast majority of Egyptians, Cook notes, will be difficult but ultimately necessary if Egypt is to become an economically dynamic and politically vibrant society.

An Incurable Past

An Incurable Past PDF Author: Mériam N. Belli
Publisher: University Press of Florida
ISBN: 081305995X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
"Spanning virtually the entire twentieth century and as timely as the outbreak of the 2011 ‘January Revolution,’ this work has much to say about where Egypt has been, who Egyptians are and, ultimately, where they may take their country." --Joel Gordon, author of Nasser: Hero of the Arab Nation "A truly extraordinary accomplishment that is thought provoking, creative, and inspiring. Belli is the first in Middle Eastern studies to examine the cultural history of twentieth-century Egypt through the interactions between education and remembrance. Her revised theoretical approach is applicable not only to Middle Eastern societies and cultures, but to others worldwide." --Israel Gershoni, Tel Aviv University "An interesting history of memory that is diverse, dynamic, and disparate. Makes an outstanding contribution to our understandings of Egyptian national identity and memory." --Nancy L. Stockdale, University of North Texas Examining history not as it was recorded, but as it is remembered, An Incurable Past contextualizes the classist and deeply disappointing post-Nasserist period that has inspired today’s Egyptian revolutionaries. Public performances, songs, stories, oral histories, and everyday speech reveal not just the history of mid-twentieth-century Egypt, but also the ways in which ordinary people experience and remember the past. Constructing a ground-breaking theoretical framework, Mériam Belli demonstrates the fragility of the "collectivity" and the urgent need to replace the current method for studying collective memory with a new approach she defines as "historical utterances." Contextual and relational, these links between intimate and public historical narratives are an integral part of a society’s dialogue about its past, present, and future. Three major vernacular expressions constitute the historical utterances that illuminate the Nasserite experience and its present. The first is universal schooling and education. The second is anti-colonial struggle, as exemplified by Port Said’s effigy burning festival. The third is the public’s responses to the "miraculous millenarian" apparition of the Virgin Mary. Using an extensive array of sources, ranging from official archives and press reportage to fiction, public rituals, and oral interviews, Belli’s findings penetrate issues of class, religion, and social and political activism. She shows that personal testimonies and public representations allow us a deep understanding of Egypt’s construction of the modern in its many sociocultural layers. Mériam N. Belli is associate professor of history at the University of Iowa.

Revolutionary Womanhood

Revolutionary Womanhood PDF Author: Laura Bier
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 0804779066
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 409

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Book Description
“Laura Bier unpacks the complicated dynamics and legacy of an historical moment in which women were understood to be crucial to modern nation-building.” —Lila Abu-Lughod, author of Do Muslim Women Need Saving? The first major historical account of gender politics during the Nasser era, Revolutionary Womanhood analyzes feminism as a system of ideas and political practices, international in origin but local in iteration. Drawing connections between the secular nationalist projects that emerged in the 1950s and the gender politics of Islamism today, Laura Bier reveals how discussions about education, companionate marriage, and enlightened motherhood, as well as veiling, work, and other means of claiming public space created opportunities to reconsider the relationship between modernity, state feminism, and postcolonial state-building. Bier highlights attempts by political elites under Nasser to transform Egyptian women into national subjects. These attempts to fashion a “new” yet authentically Egyptian woman both enabled and constrained women’s notions of gender, liberation, and agency. Ultimately, Bier challenges the common assumption that these emerging feminisms were somehow not culturally or religiously authentic, and details their lasting impact on Egyptian womanhood today. “Addresses a major void in the historical literature on Egypt. Showing how gendered politics proved central to Nasserist attempts to modernize, the book broadens our understanding of state feminism, secularism, and the postcolonial period. A very welcome addition, the work combines theoretical sophistication with rich evidence and well-crafted arguments.” —Beth Baron, author of Egypt as a Woman “Laura Bier’s well-researched and engaging text skillfully illustrates how Nasser spun ‘the woman question’ to define his Arab socialist agenda.”—Lisa Pollard, author of Nurturing the Nation

Nasser's Egypt, Arab Nationalism, and the United Arab Republic

Nasser's Egypt, Arab Nationalism, and the United Arab Republic PDF Author: James P. Jankowski
Publisher: Lynne Rienner Publishers
ISBN: 9781588260345
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
During the crucial decade of the 1950s in Egypt, both Gamal Abdel Nasser and the idea of Arab nationalism were assuming more and more influence in Egypt and the greater Arab world. Exploring this phenomenon, James Jankowski also offers important insights into the political context in which Nasser maneuvered. Jankowski focuses on the period from the 1952 Revolution in Egypt to the dissolution of the short-lived union of Egypt and Syria in 1961 - and on the outlook and actions of Nasser, the dominant figure in Egypt's new revolutionary regime. Concisely and convincingly, he identifies the unique blend of ideological and practical considerations that led Egypt to a progressively deeper involvement in Arab nationalism. He draws on newly available materials from the U.S. and British archives and on the memoir literature now available in Arabic to present a detailed reconstruction of this formative period in Egyptian political history. Jankowski traces Egypt's - and Nasser's - movement from a peripheral to a central position in Arab nationalist politics.

Nasser's Peace

Nasser's Peace PDF Author: Michael Sharnoff
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 135161763X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Gamal Abdel Nasser was arguably one of the most influential Arab leaders in history. As President of Egypt from 1956 to 1970, he could have achieved a peace agreement with Israel, yet he preferred to maintain his unique leadership role by affirming pan-Arab nationalism and championing the liberation of Palestine, a common euphemism for the destruction of Israel. In that era of Cold War politics, Nasser brilliantly played Moscow, Washington, and the United Nations to maximize his bargaining position and sustain his rule without compromising his core beliefs of Arab unity and solidarity. Surprisingly, little analysis is found regarding Nasser’s public and private perspectives on peace in the weeks and months immediately after the 1967 War. Nasser’s Peace is a close examination of how a developing country can rival world powers and how fluid the definition of “peace” can be. Drawing on recently declassified primary sources, Michael Sharnoff thoroughly inspects Nasser’s post-war strategy, which he claims was a four-tiered diplomatic and media effort consisting of his public declarations, his private diplomatic consultations, the Egyptian media’s propaganda machine, and Egyptian diplomatic efforts. Sharnoff reveals that Nasser manipulated each tier masterfully, providing the answers they desired to hear, rather than stating the truth: that he wished to maintain control of his dictatorship and of his foothold in the Arab world.

Gamal Abdel Nasser

Gamal Abdel Nasser PDF Author: Sam Witte
Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
ISBN: 9780823944668
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 116

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Book Description
Examines the life and leadership skills of Egyptian president Gamal-Abdel Nasser, who led the revolt that overthrew King Faruk in 1952 and established Egypt as a republic.

Revolutionary Melodrama

Revolutionary Melodrama PDF Author: Joel S. Gordon
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Revolutionary Melodrama explores intersections between cinema and politics during the Nasser era, a period in which a military regime embarked upon the construction of a new civic identity for an independent Egypt. The way in which filmmakers participated in this venture provides the focal point, with their cultural production as the central texts which both shaped and were shaped by an emerging sense of a new Egypt. With the blessing of a "revolutionary" regime, filmmakers began to explore issues of social inequity, colonial and feudal exploitation, changing gender roles, religious and cultural traditions and, finally, the disappointments of the revolutionary project itself. No realm of cultural production holds greater import for the Nasser era than the cinema. Even those who are active in deconstructing the last vestiges of the Nasserist state trumpet the Nasser era as a "golden age" of the arts and media. The faces and voices on big and little screens, many still alive, some still working, constitute a pantheon who many Egyptians, young and old alike, feel will never be replaced. The author approaches his subject as a scholar of the early Nasser years who has turned his attention to questions of civic identity and its relationship to art and political symbology. The work is enriched and informed by extensive interviews with a large circle of people engaged in the production or analysis of Egyptian cinema and broadcast, then and now: directors, actors, critics, historians, scenarists, censors, musicians, writers, politicians, and government ministers. Egyptian film remains a largely ignored topic in an ever-growing literature on film and culture. This book sheds new light on what many consider to be the greatest era of Egyptian filmmaking, one that remains formative for many engaged in creating Egyptian films today.

Nasser of Egypt

Nasser of Egypt PDF Author: Wilton Wynn
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Egypt
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description


Nasser’s New Egypt

Nasser’s New Egypt PDF Author: Keith Wheelock
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1789128331
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 553

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Book Description
A study of Egypt since the Revolution provides insight into many of the major problems confronting the world today. The phenomenon of military regimes replacing civilian governments throughout the Afro-Asian world is of urgent concern to the West and to the Communists alike. Gamal Abdel Nasser’s peculiar brand of neutralism has thrust Egypt into the center of the cold war. The problems of internal development facing this country are similar to those encountered in many of the underdeveloped areas of the world. And Nasser’s appeals for Arab unity reflect the growing movement toward greater regional cooperation, a hallmark of the twentieth century. This book is not intended to be a history of Egypt of the past seven years; rather, it is an analysis of the contemporary scene. While I have endeavored to present the highlights of the period since the military coup of 1952, my primary purpose has been to analyze Nasser’s military regime.—Keith Wheelock “With the facilities of Nasser’s office at his disposal, Keith Wheelock in this book, has been able to interview government members and dig into certain state archives, unhampered by the usual restrictions besetting the political commentator. The result is an intimate analysis of recent Egyptian history. “Well documented, this exciting and informative analysis should have a wide appeal in view of the Suez Canal seizure, the armed threat staged by France, England and Israel in 1956, and the current rearmament against Israel.”—Kirkus Review