Gamal Abdel Nasser

Hayashi Takeshi

doi:10.11375/kokusaiseiji1957.57_82

Western observers gave the name of Nasserism to the regime and ideology of Gamal Abdel Nasser with a violent hatred of military rule as uncivilized autocracy. However, amidst the cold war, it represented a hatred of neutralism by Nasser who came into power from the middle class, in sharp contrast with the old type Arab nationalists of landed aristocracy who clung to the West to keep their power and status. A typical middle class aspiration for political self-determination can be seen in the movement of the Muslim Brethren which mobilized the massive Arab populace against the West. At first Nasser, as a radical nationalitarian, was enthusiastic about the Brethren, but he soon became cold-hearted due to the Brethren's political immaturity.<br>At the time of the second defeat of Egypt by Israel, Nasser had to reorganize the national economy under the slogan of “Arab socialism, ” although it was in fact a modernizationist approach based on the traditional Muslim ethos of social justice. This was combined with his Pan-Arabism initiated by Egypt to defen Arab sovereignty against Israel and a possible reinvasion by the West. The third defeat caused a new threat within the Arab camp: the Fatah movement came into existence, armed with the ideology of “people's war” aiming at the liberation of Palestine by the Palestinians in confrontation with Israel and aiming at the Arab states who were hesitant to fight against Israel.<br>The Fatah leader Arafat, a middle class radical without an established power base, was an ex-member of the Muslim Brethren, and was a relative of the Jerusalem grand Mufti, a well known pro-Nazi, fanatic islamist, who led bloody conflicts against the Jews in Palestine since the 1920's. Arafat was hostile to the Mufti, and became an active Brethren but shifted to the leftist camp under the influence of an Algerian nationalist. Because of his militant activities, Arafat was appointed to the head of the PLO, originally sponsored by Nasser himself, although Nasser was an opponent of the people's war strategy as an ex-soldier.<br>Anwar Sadat, successor to Nasser, represents the other extreme of the middle class response to the changing international setting of the Arab states in world politics. He prefers to emphasize Egypt's national interest rather than the Arab Cause in Palestine. It seems to be the very opposite of Nasser's approach, but there are points in common with Nasser.

Gamal Abdel Nasser

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