According to Cleveland, the concept of ‘upheval and renewal’ can be considered a common feature for the countries in the Middle East in the 1970s. After the formation of independent states, one can notice a general tendence in Arab republics towards the consolidation of their power. This essay aims at comparing and contrasting this process in Egypt and Syria starting from 1970, year in which both countries saw the coming into power of new leaders, Anwar Sadat and Hafiz Al-Asad, and a subsequent change from the previous regime’s policies. Given the shortage of space and the complexity of the matter, the focus will be only on the most evident aspects of authoritarian power consolidation under those two leaders without going too much into the details. First the essay will address the implementation of the “corrective revolution” in both countries, then the use of the party and the patronage system to ensure loyalty to the regime, the relationship with the military, and the relationship with the religious groups. Lastly the focus will be on Al-Asad’s cult of personality and the Egyptian use of elections as opposite ways to legitimise the regime.
In 1970 the new leaders in Syria and Egypt had to face the problem of gathering support from society. The Egyptian President Sadat was considered not worthy of taking the place of Nasser, by both the exponents of the regime, and the other Arab countries. Nasser’s regime was starting to fall apart and the institutions were becoming possible rivals for the President. The one-party system did not leave room to any opposition and the security and the military were the protagonists on the political stage . In order to consolidate his authoritarian power, Sadat understood that he needed to cultivat...
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...he Modern Middle East, 402.
Haydemann, Authoritarianism in Syria, 208.
Cook, The Stuggle for Egypt, 140.
Haydemann, Authoritarianism in Syria, 208.Haydemann, Authoritarianism in Syria, 207-208.
Shmuel Bar, ‘Bashar’s Syria: The Regime and its Strategic Worldview’, Comparative Strategy, Vol. 25, Iss. 5, 2006, 358.
Robert B. Betts, ‘The Struggle for Power in Syria: Politics and Society under Asad and the Ba’th Party’, Middle East Policy 5(2) (1997), 204-206 (05/03/2014).
Cleveland, A History of the Modern Middle East, 405.
Brown, ‘Egypt’s Wide State Reassembles Itself’, unpaginated. Cook, The Stuggle for Egypt, 124.
Cook, The Stuggle for Egypt, 154.
Betts, ‘The Struggle for Power in Syria’, 125.
Bar, ‘Bashar’s Syria’, 354. Bar, ‘Bashar’s Syria’, 355.
Cook, The Stuggle for Egypt, 173.
G.S. Harris, Ethnic Conflict and the Kurds, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, pp.118–120, 1977.
...d took control of the Gaza Strip once again. Anwar el-Sadat then became president after Gamal Abdel Nasser died in 1970. In an effort to take control of the Sinai Peninsula, Anwar el-Sadat attacked the Israelis. After a cease-fire, the United Nation’s troops then returned to keep things peaceful. Israel then later withdrew and was only allowed to use it for non-military purposes. In 1978 a peace treaty was established between Egypt and Israel which influenced more peace in the Middle East. Although a formal treaty was signed in 1979. In 1981 Sadat was assassinated and Mohamed Hosni Mubarak followed him in presidency. The Sinai Peninsula was then returned to Egypt in 1982 after the Israeli troops withdrew from the region. Mubarak embraced Sadat’s policies and managed to climb to the top and be once again making Egypt known as one of the leaders of the Arab world.
In July 1952, the Egyptian government, headed by King Farouk, was overthrown in a bloodless coup led by the Free Officers, soon to be known as the Egyptian Revolutionary Command Council (RCC). The revolution was ostensibly led by Muhammad Naguib but it was clear that he was a mere figurehead and in a little over two years, Gamal Abdel Nasser would assume the Presidency. Although the goals of the RCC were somewhat unclear at the start, Nasser would embark on a policy of creating an independent Egypt free from internal and external domination. It was the latter goal that would set Nasser on a collision course with the West, initially Great Britain and to a lesser extent France, but eventually the United States. As such, Nasser’s commitment to autonomy would make him a hero to many in the Arab World and a villain to the West. Accordingly, for the next sixteen years Nasser and the United States would forge a strained relationship that at times bordered on mutual hostility and on other occasions, would stop just short of friendship based on pragmatic considerations by each side. As such, a detailed study is in order of the relationship between the RCC and the United States beginning with the Egyptian Revolution and ending with Nasser’s death in 1970. Ultimately, one can conclude that each side sought to exploit the other based upon outside considerations pertaining to Arab public opinion and a fear of communism.
“One Arab nation from Gulf to the Ocean,” gives meaning to the term “Pan-Arabism” in the Middle East. A notion where Arab nations transcend their state boundaries to form political mergers with other states and achieve an ‘Arab unity.’ The existence of Arab states had been tumultuous throughout the decline of the Muslim order, the end of the Ottoman Empire, the Palestinian defeat, Six Day War and Arab-Israeli war in 1973. This essay will critically examine Foud Ajami’s case for a raison d’état in the Middle East and his claim that there were six broad trends leading to the alteration of the balance of power away from Pan-Arabism and towards the state. It will be argued that Pan-Arabism was a romantic ideology that Arab states found convenient to support, all in advancement of their nationalistic state agendas. It was never a realistic endeavor that was physically undertaken by the Arab states and was thus never alive in a tangible sense. However, Pan-Arabism as an ideology had a place in the Middle East and was thus alive in an ideological sense.
The authoritarian regimes of the Middles cycled through a pattern of anti-western policy until the globalization effects of economics and information demanded reform. As conservative Arab states try to maintain the autocracy they relied on after gaining independence, their citizens, affected by information and education expansion, challenge their resistant governments as typified by Syria’s unwillingness to capitulate. The proliferation of information and education underscored the protest movements of the Arab Spring because citizens’ contempt for their obstinate governments grew to large under economic pressures, as the current situation in Syria demonstrates.
Andersen, Roy, Robert F. Seibert, and Jon G. Wagner. Politics and change in the Middle East: sources of conflict and accommodation. 9th ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1982. Print.
An attack on the Syrian state would fall within the boundaries of the international concept of the responsibility to protect. The crisis in Syria has escalated by protests in March 2011 calling for the release of all political prisoners. National security forces responded to widespread peaceful demonstrations with the use of brutal violence. The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad refused to stop attacks and allow for implementation of the reforms requested by the demonstrators. By July 2011, firsthand accounts emerged from witnesses, victims, and the media that government forces had subjected innocent civilians to detention, torture, and the use of heavy weaponry. The Syrian people were also subjected to the Shabiha, a largely armed state sponsored militia fighting with security forces. Al-Assad continually denied responsibility to these crimes and placed blame on the armed groups and terrorists for these actions.
Since March 2011, Syria had no longer experienced a situation called peace and harmony. Syrian’s daily life is filled with the events of killing, bombing and torturing of their brothers and sisters. This unresolved conflict began with a revolution to against the government for brook the promise to have betterment in political system (citation). However the government had responded by harsh action. Starting from this point, Syria had slide into Civil War. Based on the brief description about situation in Syria, I strongly believe that the best International Relation theory to describe this situation is constructivism. This is because the Civil War in Syria is socially constructed by some factors which will be discussed deeply in the next paragraph. In this essay, I will emphasize on the two factors that lead to Syria Civil War which are identity conflict in a state and the absence of shared norms of sovereignty; and provide a solution from constructivism perspective which is diplomacy negotiation and limitation to it.
The Syrian Civil War is a good example of world leaders playing by the rules of realism. The civil war began in March of 2011 as part of the Arab Spring, and by July of 2012 17,000 have died and another 170,000 fled the country (Almond). The United Nations Security Council in February of 2012 had tried t...
In those countries that have not experienced government upheaval, a common outcome of the Arab Spring has been sustained civil unrest, political instability, and the extension of political and economic concessions by leaders seeking to appease protesters. Many questions could arise as one contemplated those events. One of these questions would be: Why has the Arab Spring produced different results across the Middle East? This paper is a humble attempt to suggest some answers to this sort of these logical questions.
Barnard, Annie. "Syrian Government's Forces Gain, but a Siege War Goes On." New York Times. Thestar.com, 16 Nov. 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
As the Arab Spring enters its second year, major uprisings and revolts have occurred all over the Middle East, pushing for an end to the corrupt autocratic rule and an expansion of civil liberties and political rights. Most recently, images from Syria have emerged, depicting the government’s use of force to suppress the voice of its people. One might ask, “Is this the beginning of a revolution? Is the country on the path to democracy?” To assess this question and examine the future trends in the region, one must look back on the country’s somewhat tumultuous history, the relationship between the citizens and the state, and the political economy.
Political uprisings in the Middle East, especially in Muslim nation states have placed Arabian politics back on the focus point of international politics. Political events in certain Arab countries had an excessive impact on the political development of other neighboring states. Resistances and anxieties within different Arab countries triggered unpredictable actions, sometimes sorely to observe and believe. The authoritarian governments of Arabian countries led from various dictators have created a precarious situation for their people, especially in providing national security and maintaining peace in the region. Jack Goldstone argues that the degree of a sultan’s weakness has been often only visible in retrospect; due in part to the nature of the military-security complex common across Middle East states (Goldstone 1). In addition, the existence of various statesmen with political affiliation is concerned in faithfulness of its armed forces. Usually, the armed national forces of several states, mainly those in Arab countries are loyal and closely affiliated to their leaders, which have a major role in state regimes. Arab uprisings in their early spreading appeared legally responsible and with concrete demands from representatives’ peoples, calling for a more open democratic system and reasonable governance. Even though, the system in which popular frustration with government imposes alters considerably from one state to another. These public revolts against different authoritative governments didn’t halt just in Arab states, but they sustained also in the Far East and in the Eastern Europe. Can we say that the popular uprisings in Arab countries could be attributed to the term of globalization? In fact, globalization is a multi...
The structure of Egyptian politics and state administration was also redefined during Ali’s rule. As the go...
...nd Politics." Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. Ed. Philip Mattar. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 890-895. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 24 Jan. 2012.