Political Science Department

Honor Thesis (REM 401)

Research Proposal on
The Egyptian politics Role in the Arab Region and How Egypt
affect the Arab States from 2011 /2019
Student Name: Mohamed Youssef Ahmed
ID: 20141534

Dr. Mohamed kmal

full 2019
Introduction

Egypt is important country in the Middle East. It has a strategic importance regionally and
internationally. Egypt has the biggest population in the region, it has the Suez Canal and it has a
cultural and historical influence on the neighbor Arab countries. Egypt played a very important
role in the Middle East Progress and development from ancient times, more than 7000 years ago
due to the Nile river and Pharos civilization till recent times in the 21st century. Geopolitically,
Egypt connects Middle East to Africa. It also has an access to the Mediterranean Sea connecting
it to Europe and the Red Sea through which a huge part of the world trade flows. It has a
population of more than 100 million. According to Kathleen Trio McFarland “Egypt is the
oldest, largest and most important Arab country in the region. What happens there affects them
all”. So, it plays a very central role in the Middle East history and politics. Egypt supported the
efforts of the Arab League as a key tool of joint Arab action, by providing the necessary
capabilities to reform its structures and assist it to play its role properly, regarding upgrading its
existing structures and adding new structures, in order to promote joint Arab march and to
strengthen the capacity of the Arab League to contain such disputes before its escalation, by
mechanisms to avoid disputes or to managing and settling them peacefully. So, this research
paper will test the Egyptian role on the Arab countries and how it affected its neighbors’ politics
and people in getting their independence. it will see what factors led to this influence and how
Arab governments see this role.

Research Problem

What is the impact of Egypt’s foreign policy towards Arab countries?

Hypothesis

Egypt played important role in the Arab region affecting its neighbors’ politics and people.

Research Questions:

1. How did Egypt’s foreign affect Libya?

2. What’s the impact of Egypt’s foreign policy towards the Arab league?
3. What are the policies that Egypt has taken towards Ethiopia?
4. What’s the result of rupture diplomatic relations between Egypt and Qatar?
5. What’s Egypt’s political role in fighting terrorism?
6. What’s Egypt’s role in the Saudi alliance against yamen?
7. Does the League of Arab States make a change in the region?
Literature Review

This part is divided into two categories: First- Literature that tackle the rise of Arab Unity
and Pan-Arabism.

a. Porath, Y. (2013). In Search of Arab Unity 1930-1945. New York, USA: Routledge:
Taylor & Francis Group.

Pan-Arabism has been, or was, one among the foremost common ideologies within the
Arab world. The roots of its quality lay within the historical image of Arab unity and
strength of the first caliphates and in its promise that, with the retainment of unity, thus
too would the strength come. Flourishing within the Nineteen Fifties and early Nineteen
Sixties, pan-Arabism was a substantial force in Arab politics, braced by the union of Egypt
and Syria into the United Arab Republic in 1958. First problems in pan-Arabism appeared
with the dissolution of the UAR in 1961; the 1967 defeat to the Israelis was an extra
reversal. By the late Seventies it had been with confidence declared that pan-Arabism had
met its finish. No matter the attraction of pan-Arabism as an ideology, in politics it had
very little connectedness, for reasons that are fantastically elucidated in Yehoshua Porath's
In Search of Arab Unity: 1930-1945. This un-connectedness of pan-Arabism stemmed
partially from the ideology's Utopian nature and from the scatter of its goals of unity,
coordination, or just cooperation among the Arab countries. First chapter about The
Hashemites of Republic of Iraq and Transjordan sought-after to use pan Arabism to
strengthen their claims to leadership within the Arab world and were opposed by the
Syrian republican regime, that the Hashemites sought-after to topple, and by the
monarchies of Egypt and Saudi Arabia. However, in the third chapter Porath focused more
on the rise of political pan Arabism as a concept and ideology in Egypt and other Arab
states and how Egypt contributed to pan Arabism.

b. Rizk, Y. (2009). Britain and Arab Unity: A Documentary History from the Treaty of
Versailles to the End of World War II. New York: I.B. Tauris & LTD, Center for Arab
Unity Studies.
British behavior in respect of the Arab unity have commonly been a source of dispute in
the Middle East. From the Treaty of Versailles to the end of World War II, and the
retreating of from the Arab region, British engagement in the Arab affairs has been hugely
documented from the British point of view. But, Younan Labib Rizk gives a solid point of
view from the Arab side. Rizk’s analysis shows not only how the British government policy
developed in this period plus also the different influences on policy-making and execution
from the changing situation on the ground to the state of British and French relations and
the concerns of their colonies in the East like Egypt, Algeria and India. He shows how all
these elements coincided to generate a policy, repeated across several British
administrations, which was consistently hostile towards the notion of Arab unity. While
this conforms to traditional Arab views of British policy in the Levant and the Arabian
Peninsula, the importance of Rizk's work lies in his extensive research into British
archives, through which he documents British attitudes and motivations. Rizk shows that
divisions within the Arab world were initially exercised by British officials, and eventually
acquired their own dynamic. This book enhances our understanding of how the
international politics of the region evolved during a critical phase in the modern history of
the Middle East.

Second Category: Literature that tackle the Arab Spring and its causes.

a. GRAND, S. (2014). Understanding Tahrir Square: What Transitions Elsewhere

Can Teach Us about the Prospects for Arab Democracy. Washington, D.C.: Brookings
Institution Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7864/j.ctt6wpcgt.

In this book, Grand first explains why the Arab Spring happened in each state and what
were the causes in Tunisia, Egypt and Syria. Then, he talked about democracy as it was
conceived by the ancient Greeks, is largely a modern phenomenon. From the time that
human beings began to gather together in large settlements political power tended to be
concentrated in a single individual and how history repeats itself. Then he talked about the
similarities between the Arab states that had Arab spring revolutions and Eastern Bloc
they were both oppressed. He also compared it to Latin American Countries in one of the
chapters. He said the modern history of Latin America, like that of the Arab world, was
shaped first by colonialism and then by authoritarianism. Like the Arab world, Latin
America has suffered from significant economic inequality and the legacy of state-
dominated economies, factors that have made the challenges of democratization all the
greater. Also like the Arab world, Latin America has struggled with the problem of getting
powerful militaries to return to the barracks so that civilians could rule. And at the end he
expressed the nature of democratic transitions and change in the region.

b. Ismail, J. & Ismael, S. (2013). The Arab Spring and the Uncivil State. Arab Studies
Quarterly, 35(3), 229-240. doi:10.13169/arabstudquar.35.3.0229.

The article shows the Arab Spring uprisings and revolutions. The Arab Spring was
perceived as an important challenge to the postcolonial political order of the Arab world.
The postcolonial Arab world has seen by its oppressive nature of governments, this
autocratic and one-individual rule order represents the political legacy of colonial rule, that
the postcolonial regimes imitated and defined the oppressive techniques of the colonial
regimes. The Arab Spring has represented an attempt to change an independent path in
Arab politics, marked by efforts towards democracy and civil and human rights. The
successes and failures of the Arab Spring are evaluated carefully, paying attention to the
role played by Islamist political actors and movements. Finally, the writers explain that
what happened was because of the remaining colonial legacy the Arab leaders inhirted.

c. Ghanem, H. (2016). The Arab Spring Five Years Later: Toward Greater
Inclusiveness. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7864/j.ctt1657tv8.4.

This book is about the economic factor behind the Arab Spring revolutions. It promotes
economic growth and social justice as important elements of successful transition from
authoritarian to more democratic and developed state. In the beginning Ghanem focused
on the discouraging results of the Arab Spring and acknowledges that the transition is
particularly difficult due to the high polarization within post-Arab spring societies. He
described the different transitional experiences in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Jordan and
Morocco; he provides a context for the rest of the book and shows how too much focus on
political aspects is not enough for engineering successful transitions. This point is strong
and is further supported by several statistics, analyses and experiences of successfully
transitioned countries world-wide throughout the book - for instance Japan, Malaysia and
Indonesia, East Asian countries that have gone through similar transitions. He tried to link
the economic factor with the success of any revolution as It was one of the major important
causes for these revolutions to happen especially in Tunisia and Egypt.

Approach

This research paper will be handled by using the political discourse analysis approach by
analysing reports, literature, speeches.

Tools of Analysis

This research will be using desk analysis tools like: books, periodicals, websites, internet sources
and statistics.

Research Plan

This research paper consists of two main chapters:

Chapter One: Chapter One: The Shared historical between Egypt and the Arab States: Culture,
and People.

• The army ruled most Arab countries

• Common Culture and Language Factor

• Shared Art and Literature “Cinema, Poetry and Writers”

Chapter Two: Chapter Two: The Impact of League of Arab States on its Members and Recent
Changes in the Region.

• League of Arab States: History, Interests/Scope and Members.

• People and Governments

Preliminary List of References

• Books

• Ghanem, H. (2016). The Arab Spring Five Years Later: Toward Greater Inclusiveness.
Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7864/j.ctt1657tv8.4.

• GRAND, S. (2014). Understanding Tahrir Square: What Transitions Elsewhere Can Teach Us
about the Prospects for Arab Democracy. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7864/j.ctt6wpcgt.

• Harb, C. (2016). The Arab Region: Cultures, Values, and Identities. In M. Amer & G. Awad (Eds.),
Handbook of Arab American Psychology(pp. 3-19). New York: Routledge.

• Porath, Y. (2013). In Search of Arab Unity 1930-1945. New York, USA: Routledge: Taylor &
Francis Group.

• Rizk, Y. (2009). Britain and Arab Unity: A Documentary History from the Treaty of Versailles to
the End of World War II. New York: I.B. Tauris & LTD, Center for Arab Unity Studies.

• Periodicals

• Ismail, J. & Ismael, S. (2013). The Arab Spring and the Uncivil State. Arab Studies Quarterly,
35(3), 229-240. doi:10.13169/arabstudquar.35.3.0229.

• Kamal Eldin Osman Salih. (2013). The Roots and Causes of the 2011 Arab Uprisings. Arab Studies
Quarterly, 35(2), 184-206. doi:10.13169/arabstudquar.35.2.0184.
• Abdel Salam, A. A. (2015). The Arab spring: Its origins, evolution and consequences… four years
on. Intellectual Discourse,23(1), 119-139. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284181844_The_Arab_spring_Its_origins_evolution_and_co
nsequences_four_years_on.

• KURUN, İ. (2017). Arab Nationalism from a Historical Perspective: A Gradual Demise? Yalova
Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi,8(13), 11-24.

• Afzal, M., & Mushtaq, A. (2017). Arab Spring: Its Causes And Consequences. Journal of the
Punjab University Historical Society,30(1), 1-10.

• Websites

• Kathleen Troia McFarland Quotes. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved March 29, 2019, from
BrainyQuote.com Web site: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/kathleen_troia_mcfarland_644525.

• New Zealand History. (2012, December 20). The Ottoman Empire. Retrieved from
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/ottoman-empire.

• The Editors of Britannica. (2018, November 13). Sykes-Picot Agreement. Retrieved from
https://www.britannica.com/event/Sykes-Picot-Agreement.

• Britannica. (2019, January 17). Arab-Israeli wars. Retrieved from

https://www.britannica.com/event/Arab-Israeli-wars.

• Haddad, T. (2009, May). ‫التضامن مع فلسطين استقراء الماضي لفهم المسقبل‬. Retrieved from
https://www.badil.org/ar/publications-ar/periodicals-ar/haqelawda-ar/item/67-article10.html.

• Bisgaard-Church, E. (2011, October 23). Egyptians campaign for independence, 1919-1922.

Retrieved from https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/egyptians-campaign-independence-1919-
1922.

• OpenLearn. (2019, January 18). After the First World War: The 1919 Egyptian Revolution.
Retrieved from https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/after-the-first-world-war-
the-1919-egyptian-revolution.
• Boundless. (n.d.). Egypt: Boundless World History. Retrieved from
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/egypt/.

• Egypt Today Staff. (2017, February 19). Egyptian Revolution of 1952. Retrieved from
https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/9/3347/Egyptian-Revolution-of-1952.

• League of Arab States, Charter of Arab League, 22 March 1945, available at:
https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3ab18.htm HYPERLINK
"https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3ab18.html"l

• Mirkin, B. (2010). Population Levels, Trends and Policies in the Arab Region: Challenges and
Opportunities(Rep.). UNDP: Regional Bureau for Arab States Arab Human Development Report.

Chapter One: The Shared History between Egypt and the Arab States: Culture, Colonization and
People

States in the Arab area are not only neighbors, they share history, language, culture and
religion. They were colonized by same countries started from Ottoman Empire that colonized
the whole region for 400 years, then the British and French colonization, the rise of Nationalist
movements and Nasser. This chapter will include the shared history of the region and the other
shared characteristics between the Arab states. The chapter will also include the role of the
Egyptian liberation movements in influencing the Arab states’ independence and how this
brought them closer as well as the Palestinian case. The chapter’s goal is to highlight the
similarities between the Arab states and how Egypt influenced their independence.

Ottoman Colonization.

The Ottoman Empire got its strongest era between 1400s and 1700s it expanded its borders
over North Africa and Arab Region, Ottomans had control over the Red Sea, Persian Gulf and
became the main force controlling much of the Mediterranean Sea. Ottomans took the wealth
of the Arabs and gave them weakness and backwardness. Ottomans controlled the Arab States
as an Islamic states that follow the Islamic Caliphate in Turkey under the Ottoman Empire rule
(Kamal, A., 2012). But because the Ottoman Empire entered the First World War in 1914 the
loyalty of the Arab states to the Ottomans could no longer exist, because of important reasons
and events, such as the growth of Arab nationalism that supported the idea of Arab unity
instead of Islamic unity. This Arab nationalism was largely prevailed by educated intellectuals,
civil servants and former or serving officers living in great Arab cities like Damascus, Cairo and
Baghdad. A number of secret societies and organizations were formed in this period of time.
The Ottoman Empire’s entry into the First World War in 1914 provided a great opportunity for
people who are against them to revolt (New Zealand History, 2012). So, the Arab states shared
almost the same characteristics of this period of history because they were colonized by the
same empire.

British and French Colonization “Sykes–Picot Agreement”

After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the British, Russian and the French governments
decided to divide the lands controlled by the Ottomans which are the Arab states region and
some of Eastern Europe which Russia controlled after that (Britannica, 2018). By this
agreement, the borders of these mandates split up Arab lands and that led to the modern
borders of Iraq, Israel and the Palestinian, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. Before Sykes Picot they
had different borders, the foreign governments made up these borders to facilitate who will
take which part between the British and the French colonies. They didn’t split up the borders
only, they also splited the population and clans of the Arab region. The borders split up other
contiguous populations, like the Kurds and the Druze, and left them as minority populations in
several countries instead of being in the same place, depriving their communities of self-
determination together (Rizk, Y. (2009).

It concluded on May 19, 1916, France and Britain divided the Arab region of the former
Ottoman Empire into spheres of influence. In this sphere, it was agreed between the two
governments each country will be allowed to establish direct or indirect administration and
control as they wish and as they may think to arrange and manage the Arab State or
Confederation of Arab States. Under Sykes-Picot, the Syrian coast and much of modern-day
Lebanon went to France; Britain would take direct control over central and southern
Mesopotamia, around the Baghdad and Basra provinces. Palestine would have an international
administration, as other Christian powers, namely Russia, held an interest in this region. The
rest of the territory in question—a huge area including modern-day Syria, Mosul in northern
Iraq, and Jordan—would have local Arab chiefs under French supervision in the north and
British in the south. Also, Britain and France would retain free passage and trade in the other’s
zone of influence. (Laqueur, W. 2008)

Common Culture and Language Factor

Many of Arab states cultures and traditions and customs are almost the same in every country.
Not only the common language which is Arabic is the only similarity between these countries,
they share important traditions and customs, these Arab cultures have many differences
compared to Western culture in Europe and USA for example. There are several common
factors between these cultures such as:

1. Religious Beliefs

Arab culture and the Islamic faith are greatly respected. Islam is the predominant religion, other
religious groups are accepted and treated with respect as well like the Christians.

Most Arabs believe that most of life’s events are controlled by God. Man is dependent on the
fate as determined by God; they have religious affiliation is essential to everyone in Arab
society. Most Arabs believe there should be no separation between church and state and that
religion should be taught to children in school. They respect their religion and give it high
priority in their daily life.

2. Family is Important

Besides their faith, family is the second most important element to Arabs. Family loyalty and
obligations take precedence over loyalty and obligations to friends or a job and over one’s
personal needs. A person’s honor and dignity come from their family.

3. Hospitality and Visits: Hospitality, friendliness, and generosity to strangers is an

expression of sacred duties.

4. Honor is another important characteristic most of the time associated with Arab
cultures. By being linked to matters of reputation, honor increases group power. Dishonorable
behavior is considered to be threatening to the social standing of individuals, families, and
communities. “Honor culture” is of course not restricted to the Arab region.

These are the most shared culture and traditions among the Arab states which bring them
together and allowed for the rise of the Arab unity and pan Arabism after that. (Harb, C., 2016)

Palestinian Case 1940s and the Arab Cooperation

One of the most important cases to all the Arab states is the Palestinian case. While Palestine
was British protectorate in the 1900s after Sykes Picot agreement, the British gave a promise to
the Zionist movement that they will help them to create a Jewish state in Palestine which was
known for Belfour Declaration in 1917. The British government supported and facilitated the
Jews migration to Palestine until a huge number of Jewish people came and it became harder
for the British to organize, regulate and manage these huge numbers in Palestine till 1947 when
the United Nations voted to partition the British mandate of Palestine into a Jewish state and
an Arab state. Conflicts and fights broke out almost immediately between Jews and Arabs in
Palestine. As British soldiers prepared to withdraw from Palestine, conflict continued to be
more serious, with both Jewish and Arab forces committing belligerences. Among the most
infamous events was the attack on the Arab village of Dayr Yasin on April 1948. On the night of
the British withdrawal forces May 15, 1948, Israel declared itself as independent state. The next
day, the Arab forces cooperation from Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon occupied the
areas in southern and eastern Palestine not apportioned to the Jews by the UN partition of
Palestine and then controlled east Jerusalem, including the small Jewish quarter of the Old City.
The stated purpose of the invasion was to enforce law and order because of the British
withdrawal, citing incidents such as that at Dayr Yasin, and a growing refugee problem in
neighboring Arab countries. But the Israelis won control of the main road to Jerusalem and
successfully defeated the Arab attacks. From this day on the Palestinian case became the most
important issue for the Arab states as a part of their identity and unity, also in the League of
Arab States, the Palestinian case is the number one priority in their decisions and policies. They
became more cooperated after this case (Britannica, 2019).

Egypian Liberation Movements and the Declaration of the Egyptian Republic

Although the Ottoman Empire had the control over Egypt nominally, the political connection
between the two countries was largely severed by the control of power by Muhammad Ali in
1805 and re-enforced by the British occupation of Egypt in 1882 when Britain declared its
protection over Egypt. From 1883 to 1914, though the Khedive of Egypt and Sudan remained
the official ruler of the country, the ultimate power was in the hand of the British Consul-
General. When the World War I broke out between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman
Empire, Britain declared and announced that it would shoulder the entire load of the war. On
December 14, 1914, the Khedivate of Egypt was promoted to a separate sultanate and declared
a British protectorate, ending permanently the legal presence of Ottoman sovereignty over
Egypt. The terms of the protectorate led Egyptian nationalists to believe it was a temporary
arrangement that would be changed after the war through bilateral agreement with Britain.
Before the war, nationalist affiliation was limited to the educated elite. During the war the
dissatisfaction with the British occupation spread among all social classes because of the British
exploitation of Egyptians. This was the result of Egypt’s increasing involvement in the war,
despite Britain’s promise to shoulder the entire load of the war. The British sent huge number
of foreign soldiers into Egypt, recruited over one and a half million Egyptians into the Labor
Corps, and take buildings, crops, and animals for the use of the army. In addition, Egyptian
political classes prepared for self-government. By war’s end the Egyptian people demanded
their independence from the British occupation (Bisgaard-Church, E. 2011).

After the First World War truce happened in Europe, a team of Egyptian nationalist activists led
by Saad Zaghlul made a request to High Commissioner Sir Reginald Wingate to end the British
Protectorate in Egypt and Sudan and gain Egyptian representation in the next peace conference
in Paris. At the same time a large movement for the full independence of Egypt and Sudan was
being organized at a grassroots level using the tactics of civil disobedience just like Ghandi.
Then, Zaghlul and the Wafd Party enjoyed massive support among the Egyptian people. Wafdist
messengers went into towns and villages to collect signatures supporting the movement
leaders to request for the full independence of the state. The popular support that the Wafd
leaders enjoyed as well as fearing social unrest, the British moved to arrest Zaghlul and two
other movement leaders in March 1919 and exiled them to Malta. In the course of widespread
instability between March 15 and 31, at least 800 Egyptians were killed, many villages were
burnt down, large-landed properties robbed, and railways destroyed. For several weeks,
demonstrations and strikes across Egypt by students, elite, civil officers, merchants, peasants,
workers, and religious leaders became such a daily event that normal life was brought to a halt.
This people movement was characterized by the participation of both men and women and by
erasing the religious divide between Muslim and Christian Egyptians. The uprising in the
Egyptian countryside was more violent, involving attacks on British military installations, civilian
facilities, and personnel, 800 Egyptians were dead and 1,600 others were wounded. The British
government sent a commission of inquiry, known as the Milner Mission to Egypt in December
1919 to determine the causes of the disorder and make a recommendation about the political
future of the country. Lord Milner’s report, published in February 1921, recommended that the
protectorate status of Egypt was unsatisfactory and should be abandoned. The revolts forced
London to issue a unilateral declaration of Egyptian independence on February 22, 1922
(OpenLearn, 2019).

During the reign of King Fouad, Egypt struggled with the Wafd Party, a broadly based nationalist
political organization strongly opposed to British domination and control over the Egyptian
politics, and with the British themselves who were determined to control the Suez Canal. The
importance of the canal as a strategic intersection between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red
Sea to connect West to the East and make trade easier, it was made apparent during the First
World War when Britain and France closed the canal to non-Allied Ships. The attempt by
German and Ottoman forces to destroy the canal in February 1915 led the British to hire troops
to the defense of Egypt for the rest of the war. Other political forces emerging in this period
included the Communist Party (1925) and the Muslim Brotherhood (1928), which eventually
became apolitical and religious force. King Fouad died in 1936 and Farouk inherited the throne
at age 16. 1936 treaty didn’t resolve the issue of Sudan, which under the terms of the existing
Anglo-Egyptian Condominium Agreement of 1899 was meant to be jointly governed by Egypt
and Britain with real power remaining in British hands and with rising conflicts in Europe, the
treaty stayed the same. The treaty was not welcomed by Egyptian nationalists like the Arab
Socialist Party, who wanted full independence. It started a wave of demonstrations against the
British and the Wafd Party, which supported the treaty. And on September 23, 1945, after the
end of World War II, the Egyptian government asked for editing of the treaty to end the British
military presence and to allow the cancellation of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Following the
Wafd Party’s victory in the boycotted 1950 election of Egypt, the new Wafd government
unilaterally canceled the treaty in October 1951 (Boundless website).

After that came 1952 revolution led by the free officers' movement. The revolution was faced
with immediate threats from Western imperial powers particularly the United Kingdom, which
had occupied Egypt since 1882, and France. Both were careful of rising nationalist emotions in
lands and countries under their control within the Middle East and Africa. The continued state
of war with Israel also formed a serious challenge and problem, as the Free Officers increased
Egypt already give strong support of the Palestinians. These issues stayed for four years after
the revolution when Egypt was invaded by Britain, France, and Israel in the Suez war of 1956.
Despite huge military losses, the war was seen as a political victory for Egypt, especially as it left
the Suez Canal in Egyptian control for the first time since 1875, erasing what was considered a
mark of national humiliation. This strengthened the appeal of the revolution in other Arab and
African countries. The goal of the revolution was to overthrow King Farouk and his son, to
remove any remnants of British influence in the government, and to end the monarchy and
create a republic in Egypt.

The "Free Officers Movement" was created by Gamal Abdel Nasser, the second President of the
Arab Republic of Egypt, succeeding General Mohammed Najib, who was only president for a
short time and Anwar Sadat, who succeeded Nasser, was one of the Free Officers and gave the
first statement of the revolution over the radio, announcing the cancellation of the monarchy in
Najib's name. During Najib's short presidency Egypt began negotiating the future of Sudan with
Britain and implementing a number of reforms. The Revolutionary Council soon satisfied him of
his position and installed Nasser as President of Egypt (Egypt Today, 2017)

The 1952 Revolution is known for its redistribution of land rights. One of the new government’s
first acts was to issue a land reform law, which said landowners could not hold more than 200
acres of land. It decreed that the rest of their estates should be divided among Egypt’s poor, in
an attempt to end the feudal system. Wholesale agrarian reform and huge industrialization
programs were initiated in the first 15 years of the revolution, leading to an unprecedented
period of infrastructure building and urbanization. By the 1960s, Arab socialism became a
dominant theme, transforming Egypt into a centrally planned economy. Fear of a Western-
sponsored counter-revolution, domestic religious extremism, potential communist infiltration,
and the ongoing conflict with Israel were all cited as reasons for severe and longstanding
restrictions on political opposition and the prohibition of a multi-party system. These
restrictions would remain in place until the presidency of Anwar Sadat from 1970 on, during
which many of the policies of the revolution were scaled back or reversed. The early successes
of the revolution encouraged numerous other nationalist movements in other Arab and African
countries, such as Algeria and Kenya, where there were anti-colonial rebellions against
European empires. It also inspired the toppling of existing pro-Western monarchies and
governments in the region and continent.

Nasser and the Arab Liberation Movements

The rise of Arab nationalism movement emerged since the Ottoman Empire colonization when
Arabs realized that their identity is not belonging to Islamic and Turkish culture but they are
belonging to Arab culture, so, they begin to refuse the Islamic identity and began to be believe
in Arab secular identity. The cultural crisis of the Arabs in the modern time produced
difficulties in the traditional Arabic life which enabled the access and acceptance of modern
ideas among the Ottoman Arabs back then. Cultural actions related to the Arabic language or
Arabic traditions are organized, mostly by the Christian Arabs in important cities of the
Ottoman Empire such as Damascus, Cairo, and Beirut. In local newspapers in the Middle East.
And the political part of the birth of Arab nationalism was the last thing to make it emerge as a
complete ideology. Arab nationalism as a political movement has its origins in at least three
things: reaction to Turkish nationalism and pan-Turkism, reaction to Ottoman culture, and
reaction to European colonial control over the Arab region specially French and British
colonialism. This developed the idea of Arab nationalism among the Arab people and boarded
on a campaign against the Turkification policies. So, many Arab students formed small secret
organizations and organized popular activities by people in the name of Arab nationalism
(KURUN, İ. 2017).

After the revolution in Egypt in 1952 and Nasser became the leader, he decided to support the
idea of pan Arabism and Arab liberation movements from the British and French colonization in
Arab region and Africa. Egypt's efforts to gain independence after the revolution of July 1952
increased. Egypt stood strong and determined in the face of Britain's exercises to delay the
solution of the Sudan problem between Egypt and Britain. This faster the February 1953
agreement between Egypt and Britain that Sudan had the right to self-determination. An
African country that gained its independence as a result of Egypt's efforts. This was in January
1956, and the first country to recognize it was Egypt. It was also the first ambassador to submit
its credentials to Sudan, the Ambassador of Egypt. Egypt has played a prominent and
continuous role in presenting the Palestinian case in international media and has always
supported the rights of the Palestinian people and pressed the international community to play
its role in resolving the Palestinian issue. Egypt also had the first priority in creating a political
body representing the Palestinian people, General of the United Nations in 1974 by a large
majority in favor of the Palestinians which includes the PLO's invitation as a representative of
the Palestinian people to send a delegation to discuss the right of Palestinians to return to their
homes and properties, which is held under the supervision of the United Nations, and thus
emerged the Palestinian personality at the international level represented by the PLO, which
has acquired a great deal of international legitimacy. And supported the Algerian revolution to
get independence, Egypt was a media support for the service of the Algerian revolution, and in
November 1955 a private radio station was created for Algeria to airing the data. The Egyptian
press was also the best supporter of the Algerian revolution by publishing its news and talking
about its victories. The first government of Algeria was established in exile and was based in
Cairo in 1958, the revolution of July depended on supporting the Algerian revolution until it
won the French colonization and gained its independence in 1962. Egypt continued to support
Algeria politically, militarily, materially and technically after independence to help the nascent
regime cope with the burdens and problems left by colonialism and even return to Algeria its
Arab identity. Egypt's role in supporting the northern Yemen revolution in 1962 exceeded the
traditional borders and extended in response to the call of the leaders of the revolution to
direct military aid by sending thousands of Egyptian soldiers to stand by the revolution against
its enemies from the followers of the isolated Hamid al-Din family and the reactionary forces
that supported it. Yemen has only established the foundations of the revolution and has taken
rapid steps to catch up with progress. The Egyptian presence in northern Yemen and its success
in supporting its revolution has been an incentive for liberation fronts in southern Yemen to
escalate its struggle against the British authorities there. With Egypt's increasing aid to the
revolution in southern Yemen since its outbreak in 1963, its borders have expanded and
included all its regions and achieved rapid victories that eventually enabled it to achieve its goal
of the Republic in 1967.

So, Egypt played in important role in the independence movements in the Arab states like
Algeria, Palestine, Yemen and other African states.
Chapter Two: The Impact of League of Arab States on its Members and Recent Changes in the
Region

This chapter will discuss the role of the League of Arab States, its functions and members and
how it affected the regions' policies. The chapter also will mention the Arab Spring and how
Arab states happened to change together.

League of Arab States: History, Interests/Scope and Members

League of Arab States was founded in 1945, its stated aims are to strengthen ties among
member states, organize their policies and direct them towards a common good. It has 22
members including Palestine, which the League regards as an independent state. The idea of
the Arab League was mooted in 1942 by the British, who wanted to rally Arab countries against
the Axis powers. However, the league did not take off until March 1945, just before the end of
the Second World War (Ulger, I.&Hammoura, J. , 2018).

The Arab League has some principles which are:

• No use of force among Arab states in settling disputes.

• Respecting the sovereignty of the individual member, all states are equal.

• The original goals of the league were to gain independence for Arab states, as well as to
stop Jewish immigration to Palestine, and hinder the establishment of a Jewish state.

• Encouraging the integration and cooperation among its members and strengthening the
relationships among states (Economical and Financial Affairs - Communication – railroads,
roads, aviation, navigation, telegraphs, and posts - Social Affairs - Health Affairs - Cultural
Affairs).(LAS Charter, 1945).

The structure of the Arab League consists of:

• The Council: it is the highest body of the league is the, composed of representatives of
member states, usually foreign ministers, their representatives or permanent delegates. Each
member state has one vote, irrespective of its size. The council meets twice a year, in March
and September, and may convene a special session at the request of two members. Everyday
issues.

• General Secretariat: headed by a secretary-general, it is the administrative body of the

league and the executive body of the council and the specialized ministerial councils.

• Foreign Missions

• Ministerial Councils

• Special committees: they were made to support and represent the council. They
included the Political Committee, Culture Committee, Communications Committee, Social
Committee, Legal Committee, Arab Oil Experts Committee, Information Committee, Health
Committee, Human Rights Committee, and Permanent Committee for Administration and
Financial Affairs, Permanent Committee for Meteorology, Committee of Arab Experts on
Cooperation, Arab Women's Committee, Organization of Youth Welfare, and Conference of
Liaison Officers (Charter of Arab League, 1945).

Arabs' main problem that they had to fight and cooperate together to solve it was the Arab-
Israeli conflict, it was the main focus of the League, but today they are living with internal
conflicts in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen, along with various hidden conflicts in Lebanon, Sudan
and Egypt. But, away from expressing an serious desire to resolve Arabs’ problems, the League
of Arab States at the recent summit did not debate a single real suggestion intended to
resolving any of these conflicts. The league that was established with the goal of uniting Arab
nations to better deal with external challenges but today it is busy with internal challenges in its
member states. The league that was supposed to become the mind and engine driving Arab
nations to grow and develop but it is became weaker, becoming a financial burden on the Arab
nation without contributing any clear results. The league is continually expanding its
bureaucratic mechanisms because it hires many experts who are paid in high amount of money
but do not have a clear goal and plan to address the Arab challenges. One major challenge of
the LAS is that the decision is made through consensus not by majority decision making that
resulted in delaying many decisions regarding many problems because each country has its own
interests that differs from the other countries. Another problem is that, there is no united army
or forces whether peace keeping or for immediate interaction, this weakens the effectiveness
of its role regarding dealing with military conflicts which they face a lot in the region. (Ulger,
I.&Hammoura, J. , 2018).

Arab Spring: Causes and Results

In December 2010, a Tunisian street vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire. His
action of setting himself on fire and committing suicide led to the fire in the entire Middle East
and Arab Region because people started protesting and rebelling against their political regimes.
To date, rulers have been forced from power in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and an important
civil uprisings have exploded in Bahrain and Syria and protests have went out in streets in
Algeria, Djibouti, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia,
Sudan. Arab spring started with strikes and demonstrations in Tunisia then it moved to Egypt,
the main reasons for these revolutions were socio-economic reasons, failure of the national
economy, unemployment and corruption (Ghanem, H. (2016). So, in the case of The Arab
Spring, it was not because of a lack of democracy or the authoritarian regime; maybe
corruption and injustice were reasons of it, but people didn’t revolt to be active citizens and
practice democracy in its real meaning, they summarized democracy after 2011 in the process
of the presidential and parliamentary elections and forgot about other principles and the most
important one which is guarantee of human rights and social justice (Blitz, D. 2014).

There was similar factors that lead to the occurrence of the Arab Spring in the Arab region,
these factors were the same in each country:

1. Political Oppression: the demands of Arab demonstrators were almost the same in
every country they called for political freedom, social justice and human dignity. In 25 January
2011 revolution in Egypt huge masses gathered in Egypt’s Tahrir Square in protest of the
authoritarian regime of Mubarak, the people said the slogan bread freedom and dignity and
social justice. As Arabs share the same history and background even in politics, the region was
ruled by dictators since 1950s for example, Abdul Karim Qassem in Iraq between 1958 and 1963
and Hafez al-Assad in Syria between 1970 and 2000 and then his son Bashar till now and
authoritarian rulers just like Nasser in Egypt between 1954 and 1970 and then Sadat, Mubarak
and Ben Ali in Tunisia from 1987 to 2011. These dictators were mainly from the same
background of the military since Nasser's days and Pan Arabism and Baa'th Party in Iraq and
Syria and Kaddafi in Libya, they suppressed aggressively all opposition to their rule and severely
controlled the political rights and freedom of the people in their countries (Plakoudas, S, 2017).

2. Demographic Explosion, Economic Stalemate and Social Injustice: the number of

population in the Arab Region has been growing fast it was 128 to 359 million in a period of 40
years with almost 30% of them aged between 20 and 35.4 the age of youth and workforce. But
the growth rate of the GDP and the per capita GDP of the Arab Region did not balance this huge
population increase since the population has been affected by economic stagnation for years.
So, the younger generation in the Arab Region has always wanted to travel and migrate to the
wealthier European Union countries to find new life and escape poverty and unemployment. In
fact the unemployment and poverty rates for youngsters in the Arab countries continue very
high it reached 25% and 41% in 2009 (Plakoudas, S, 2017).

3. The power of social media because it helped in the eruption and expansion of the youth
rebellion and posting videos about human rights violations (Plakoudas, S, 2017).

The Arab Spring causes were similar to each state but the revolutions and protests did not end
the same also: Egypt and Tunisia they had not armed revolutions the situation in Egypt and
Tunisia have a big similarity in the economic and political situation also the masses of people
,when the masses demonstrated against the regimes based on economic and political reasons,
the intellectual class – middle class- was the spark of the revolution and according to the
political corruption rate which was mainly the domination of one party and nepotism. Both
revolutions ended without armed intervention, but in Syria and Libya, In Syria the situation was
differ from the situation in other states as the revolution started to be peaceful however it
turned to sectarian violence between Sunni-Shiaa and it turned to be disaster. But in Libya
because of its tribal nature and the conflict between north and south trips, as Kaddafi was
belonging to the south he as a governor of Libya was controlling all sources of oil which existed
in the north and giving the profit to his trips in the south and left the north with almost nothing
and that was a main reason to create a conflict between and south and north trips (Salih, K.,
2013) (GRAND, S. 2014).

People and Governments

Although the Arab region is characterized by many similarities it is also characterized by

extreme differences in number of population, size of the lands, races and colors and different
sections and divisions within each religion for example, Egypt with a population of 84 million,
and countries with small populations, such as Qatar at 111,000 according to UNDP in 2010
report, and in size Sudan the largest country in the Region with 2.5 million square kilometer and
the region’s smallest country, Bahrain, covers just 750 square kilometers (Mirkin, B. 2010) And
with all sectarian division in the region and these differences as well, Arab population always
showed solidarity to each other crisis and problems such as the Palestinian conflict and in the
Arab Spring as well. Arab People's cooperation and solidarity totally different from
governments, Arab people stand with each other in the Arab spring supporting each other
revolution, and during liberation from colonization and the important issue of Palestine
(Haddad, T, 2009).

Conclusion of Chapter two

Arab countries cooperation existed officially since the establishment of the League of the Arab
States but it was just a cooperation of governments not people. The Arab Spring causes were
almost the same in the Arab Region countries but it had different results in each country. So,
Arab states share many things, people of the Arab region share also many things as they have
same conditions and circumstances.
Conclusion

Arab States shared a lot of history and witnessed almost the same events just as the Ottoman
colonization, western colonization, liberation and independence movements, Palestinian
struggle and recently the Arab Spring. Egypt has been always there for every Arab country in
need, it helped many countries to get their independence, helped in strengthening the
cooperation among Arab countries, it was the first state to call for the establishment of the
Arab League in 1945 and finally with Tunis, Egypt inspired the Arab states to revolt against
their corrupt regimes.

Therefore, Egypt had a real impact on the Arab region not only in terms of military power and
the wars that it has been through, but also in supporting other Arab states since 1950s and till
now. However, this cooperation differed from a president to another and from government to
another but the idea of being Arab was always a priority in Egypt's policies and Agenda and all
Arab states refer to Egypt as the leading country of Pan Arabism and in the Arab region.

Recommendations

In order for Egypt to maintain its role in the Arab region, Egypt has to be:

• Support every Arab country with its possible ways.

• Try to involve people instead of only governments.

• Enhance the effectiveness of the League of Arab States.

• Try to bring back the idea of the Pan Arabism.

• Provide a platform for culture exchange between all Arab countries.

And also to ensure this cooperation the Arab league has solutions to:

• The long ineffective Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The League’s milestone Arab
Peace Initiative, adopted unanimously a decade continues to suffer.

• Have a more dynamic Arab League could pave the way for increased intra-Arab
cooperation in areas of trade, cultural and scientific exchange in serious way.
• Calls for solutions to the absence of an enforcement mechanism. Correcting this gap
would need losing some measure of individual states’ sovereignty but it will be for al states
interest.

• Try to solve the problems between other Arab states and conflict among them just like
the diplomatic problem between Egypt, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates from one side
and Qatar from the other side because it is a real burden and may affect the homogeneity
among all state.

List of References

1. Books

• Ghanem, H. (2016). The Arab Spring Five Years Later: Toward Greater Inclusiveness.
Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7864/j.ctt1657tv8.4.

• GRAND, S. (2014). Understanding Tahrir Square: What Transitions Elsewhere Can Teach
Us about the Prospects for Arab Democracy. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.
Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7864/j.ctt6wpcgt.

• Harb, C. (2016). The Arab Region: Cultures, Values, and Identities. In M. Amer & G. Awad
(Eds.), Handbook of Arab American Psychology(pp. 3-19). New York: Routledge.

• Porath, Y. (2013). In Search of Arab Unity 1930-1945. New York, USA: Routledge: Taylor
& Francis Group.

• Rizk, Y. (2009). Britain and Arab Unity: A Documentary History from the Treaty of
Versailles to the End of World War II. New York: I.B. Tauris & LTD, Center for Arab Unity Studies.

2. Periodicals

• Ismail, J. & Ismael, S. (2013). The Arab Spring and the Uncivil State. Arab Studies
Quarterly, 35(3), 229-240. doi:10.13169/arabstudquar.35.3.0229.
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Studies Quarterly, 35(2), 184-206. doi:10.13169/arabstudquar.35.2.0184.

• Abdel Salam, A. A. (2015). The Arab spring: Its origins, evolution and consequences…
four years on. Intellectual Discourse,23(1), 119-139. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284181844_The_Arab_spring_Its_origins_evolution
_and_consequences_four_years_on.

• KURUN, İ. (2017). Arab Nationalism from a Historical Perspective: A Gradual Demise?

Yalova Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi,8(13), 11-24.

• Afzal, M., & Mushtaq, A. (2017). Arab Spring: Its Causes And Consequences. Journal of
the Punjab University Historical Society,30(1), 1-10.

3. Websites

• Kathleen Troia McFarland Quotes. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved March 29, 2019,
from BrainyQuote.com Web site:
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https://www.britannica.com/event/Arab-Israeli-wars.

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• Mirkin, B. (2010). Population Levels, Trends and Policies in the Arab Region: Challenges
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Thesis

• Blitz, D. (2014). The Arab Spring A parsimonious explanation of recent contentious

politics(Unpublished master's thesis). Radboud University Nijmegen. Retrieved from
https://www.academia.edu/12043052/The_Arab_Spring_A_Parsimonious_Explanation_of_Rec
ent_Contentious_Politics.