Indian Defence Review

Introduction

River valleys and deltas are the known cradles of civilization all over the world. Situated in the northeastern corner of Africa, Egypt is one of the principal civilizations of ancient West Asia that evolved around the Nile River valley and delta. It is also known as one of the world’s earliest literate and urban societies.

When we talk about Egypt, everybody tends to remember Pharaonic Egypt that flourished for about 3,000 years under a series of native dynasties with brief periods of foreign rule. History shows that after Alexander the Great conquered the region in 323 BCE, urban Egypt became an integral part of the Hellenistic world.¹

Under the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty², an advanced literate society thrived in the city of Alexandria. Present-day Egypt was conquered by the Romans in 30 BCE. It remained part of the Roman Republic³ and Empire and then part of Byzantine Empire, the successor of Roman Empire, until its conquest by Muslim Arab armies in 639-642 A.D.

Following the Muslim conquest, both the rural and urban societies of Egypt started to adopt elements of the Arab culture and an Arabic vernacular eventually replaced the Egyptian native language as the common means of spoken discourse. Since that time, Egypt’s history has been an integral part of the broader Islamic world though Egyptians continued to be ruled by the foreign elites – Arabs, Turkish etc.

Ultimately, Egypt became one of the intellectual and cultural centers of the Arab and Islamic world. This status remained fortified until the mid-13th century, when Mongol armies [Yuan Dynasty of China] invaded Baghdad in 1258 and brought the Abbasid caliphate⁴ to an end.

Egypt thrived for several centuries under the Mamluk sultans.⁵ The sultanate ended with the advent of Ottoman Empire⁶ in 1517. The Ottomans rule over Egypt lasted until 1798, when Napoleon I led a French army and occupied the country for about two and a half years.

Although the French occupation lasted for a short period of time, it opened the Egyptian stage for further European involvement. The Europeans exploited the geographical location of Egypt and made it a hub for trade routes between Africa, Europe and Asia. This continued and was boosted in 1869 by the opening of the Suez Canal that connected the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. The major shareholders of the Canal, Britain and France, were concerned about the safeguard of the waterway for strategic and commercial reasons. This concern became one of the most important factors influencing the subsequent history of Egypt. The British occupied the country in 1882 and continued to maintain an upper hand on the country as compared to France until and after WW-II.

As the largest Arab and African country, Egypt, used to play a dominant role in regional and international politics. Her geographical location has contributed much to her emergence as dominant power in both Asia and Africa. She is regarded by the world powers, and regional powers, as a prominent Pan Arab leader with a high degree of influencing capacity.

Egypt’s geopolitical situation and her strategic importance in the Middle East have contributed much to that dominant position. Being the entrepôt and the meeting place of three continents – Asia, Africa and Europe – she is often called the gateway to Asia and the commercial gate of the world, primarily because of Suez Canal. She is at the center of Arab homeland, situated at its very heart and constituting one third of the Arab world. The Arabs are linked by the same destiny with common causes, like their fight against Zionism in which Egypt has played an important role.

Egypt’s important position was not challenged under the British rule. The British government was attracted by her geopolitical importance, which finally brought British domination in Egypt in 1883 during Khedive Ismael’s rule. The British selected Egypt, instead of Syria and other Arab countries, due to her strategic importance. The construction of the Suez Canal (1854-69), and its final opening in 1869, turned Egypt into a hub of East-West business and transportation.

Under British rule, the Egyptian government played an important role in modernizing and arousing the nationalistic sentiment among the Arabs against the Ottoman Turks and foreign domination. The Egyptian rulers – Mohammed Aly, Ibrahim Said and Ismael the Tewfik – tried their best to increase Egypt’s influence in the region, though with limited success. The Egyptians, during WWI, played an important role in decreasing the Ottoman influence and successfully driving the German and Turkish forces from the eastern frontier in 1916.

Egypt strongly criticized the provision of Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917 which called for the right of homeland for Jews in Palestine. She stood against the secret Sykes Picot Agreement of 1916, which emphasized the splitting up of Middle East under big powers’ pressure. With the admission of Egypt in the League of Nations in 1937, her influence increased in the region. During WW-II (1939-45), Egypt declared war against Germany and Japan and was admitted to UN in 1945. During the War, Egypt stood as the leader of the nationalist movement and the anti-imperialist campaign in the region against the British and the French.

Independent Egypt developed as the strongest and the most influential Arab nation after WW-II. She became an important figure in bringing Arab unity and integration. She played the dominant role in establishing League of the Arab States in 1945. The League, its headquarter in Cairo, with an Egyptian Secretary General and Egyptian staff, came under Egypt’s direct control and influence.

King Farouk’s Egypt became a strong advocate of Pan Arab nationalism and the anti-Jewish movement in Palestine. Egypt took the leading role in supporting Palestinian Arabs in checking Jewish immigration and in opposing the Palestine partition scheme in 1936 and 1947. She assumed the dominant role in the 1948 war against Jews after the Jewish state of Israel was proclaimed on May 14, 1948. Egypt was the leader of the religious war-Jehad, which was whole heartedly supported by other Arab states. The Joint Arab armies, under Egyptian leadership, invaded Israel threatening to destroy the one-day old state and to drive its citizens into the sea. But they failed to achieve their objectives. Egypt suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Israelis, but what she lost in the war, she gained by further solidifying her dominance in the Arab world in later phases.

After Nasser came to power, republican Egypt continued to remain as the strongest and most influential regional power in the Arab world and North Africa for 15 years. His charismatic personality contributed much in exercising a high degree of influence in the region. His nationalistic slogan, based on Pan Arabism and Pan Islamism, and his support to the liberation movement attracted the Arab Muslims. His anti-imperialist campaign and policy of non-alignment made him a popular and prominent Pan Arab leader. Nasser’s popularity increased when he became successful in overthrowing Nuri-Is-Said, Prime Minister of Iraq, who was a strong supporter of the Western powers and also adhered to Baghdad Pact in 1955. He was a strong critic of Nasser and Nasser-ism. His replacement by pro-Nasserite Abdul Karim Kassim and Iraq’s dropping from Baghdad Pact were great signs of Nasser’s success. With the nationalization of Suez Canal Company in 1956 and his diplomatic victory against the combined forces of Israel, France and Britain, Nasser’s popularity and prestige reached the apex, turning him into an undisputed Arab leader.

Nasser’s Egypt had suffered loss in the hands of the combined forces in the 1956 Suez War, but the important achievement was her growing influence and popularity in the region. Nasser’s victory came in a diplomatic form in 1958 when the British and the US troops had to withdraw from Jordan and Lebanon. He was also successful in pushing the French imperialists out from Algeria in 1962 through support to the Algerian nationalists in the Maghreb7 and smashing the British domination in Eden, South Arabia and Persian Sheikhdoms.

Egypt’s influence increased in the region further when Syria and Yemen accepted Egypt’s leadership in the United Arab Republic and the United Arab States formed in 1958. This integrative process was the best example of Pan Arab unity. But, Nasser’s direct involvement in Yemen (1962-67) brought great loss to Egypt’s budding prestige. Nasser was successful in turning Yemen into a republic through heavy support to the republicans, but it also brought him in direct confrontation with Saudi Arabia and Western powers.

Nasser is often regarded as the father of the nonaligned policy in Arab world and North Africa. The growing number of newly independent states and their attachment to nonalignment soon paved the way for Egyptian leadership in the area. Nasser’s active participation in Bandung (1955), Belgrade (1961) and Cairo (1964) Nonaligned Conferences made him a member of the circle of ‘Big Five’ nonaligned leaders (Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of India, Marshall Joseph B. Tito of Yugoslavia – the only nonaligned state in Europe, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, President Abdel Nasser of Egypt and Sukarno of Indonesia). Nasser became a key figure among the nonaligned leaders after India was weakened by the India-China war (1962) and subsequently by Nehru’s death in 1964. Nasser strongly opposed the western military pacts, colonialism and racism, imperialism and big power interventions in others’ affairs during the nonaligned conferences. As a nonaligned leader, he also contributed in relaxing the tensions of East-West Cold War by trying to bridge the East-West gap.

Nasser also played leading role in liberating the colonial states in Africa. He opposed the Belgium’s policy of seceding Katanga from Congo. He opposed the secessionist Katangan leader, Tshomba, and gave full support to the Lumumba government. He tried to check the separation of Katanga from Congo through United Nation’s mediation. Nasser had repeatedly emphasized the creation of an African personality and integration among African states. He became the undisputed African leader after the establishment of Organization of African Unity in Addis Ababa in 1963.

Nasser’s unsuccessful attempt in destroying the Jewish state in 1967 brought humiliating defeat to Egypt. The six-day war in June led Israel to capture the Sinai, Golan Heights, West Bank of Jordan River and the Galilean highlands in Syria. After the defeat, Nasser showed his intention of resigning, but the Egyptian masses demanded that he stay on in power.

Nasser, even called another Hitler by Western powers8, tried his best to increase Egypt’s role in the region. His period in Egypt might be termed as a golden period in modern Middle East history. It would not be an exaggeration to state that the history of Middle East, from 1954 to 1970, was the history of Egypt’s Nasser, who shone in the Middle Eastern skies continuously for 15 years exercising a high degree of influence in the area.

The emergence of President Anwar-al-Sadat as Nasser’s successor is regarded as an important milestone in the history of West Asia. Sadat maintained Egypt’s prominent position there in the same manner as Nasser did before 1967. Sadat’s experience in politics as a close associate of Nasser had provided him with sufficient background to be in that position. His active participation in most of the secret movements before the 1952 Revolution, particularly his role as an active member of Free Officers of Egypt’s Revolutionary Command Council, provided him the necessary experience. His important role in dethroning King Farouk in 1952 and his performance as President of the National Assembly (1960-68) attracted people towards him.

Sadat, from the very day he assumed his presidency on Nasser’s death in October 1970, knew that he had to fight against Israel. The anti-Jewish spirit and war was as fresh in his mind as it was in Nasser’s. There was the problem of arms supply for which he had placed his hope on USSR. For this reason, he undertook an official visit to Moscow on February 2, 1972. His visit was later followed by his Prime Minister Dr. Aziz Sidqi, but the Russian leader refused to supply the needed arms to Egypt. The pro-western officials in Egypt had considered it a humiliation and started pressuring Sadat to turn towards the United States. Sadat criticized USSR for not supplying arms to Egypt and, on 17 July 1972, ordered the Soviet military personnel to leave Egypt immediately. Sadat’s bold step against the USSR further strengthened his position in the Arab world.

After the 1967 war, the ongoing peace negotiations had become a problem. The Jarring mission had failed. The heads of the states of OAU could not satisfy both sides and failed to bring peace in the region. But, Sadat had given the US Secretary of State a chance for bringing about peace, but he too proved unsuccessful. President Sadat continued to remain an influential player. Egypt’s leading role was accepted by Syria and Libya when they announced a union with Egypt on August 20, 1972. Egypt’s position became more strengthened when Libya’s Gaddafi jumped into an Inner Union with Egypt on August 2, 1972, but the Union lasted only until July 1973.

Sadat continued to remain as a strong supporter of the rights of the Palestinian people. Egypt had been supporting militant groups and organizations such as Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and other groups, both materially and psychologically.

The Nixon-Brezhnev Summit in Washington on June 1973 was an important landmark in the history of Arab-Israeli conflicts. The Summit agreed that both the super powers should exert pressure on both the parties for a possible settlement in the area, but it did not mention the UN Security Council Resolution 242 of November 1967 and the conditions of Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories. Egypt and Arab countries became dismayed with the summit resolutions.

When President Sadat found peace negotiations under the circumstances almost impossible, he went into war against Israel in October 1973. But before war broke out, Sadat had sent his top advisor, Hafiz Ismael, on a tour to Moscow, Washington, London, Bonn and the UN in February 1973. Ismael could not convince these countries in favor of peace negotiations with Israel. Egypt had no other alternative except to enter into war. The Egyptian war aims were to reoccupy the territories captured by Israel during the 1967 war and to regain Egypt’s lost prestige. The Arab armed forces from Iran, Morocco, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait and Algeria, under Egyptian leadership, could not defeat Israel and instead got themselves defeated. However, the Egyptian Third Army could not be defeated by the Israelis and thus salvaging Egypt from total humiliation. In spite of the defeat Egypt’s losses in 1973 were not so heavy as in 1967, because the 1973 war was well planned, well organized and well conducted. What Egypt lost in the war, she gained in solidifying her leadership in the region. Towards the end of the war, UN Security Council Resolution 338 of October 20, 1973 had called for a ceasefire emphasizing the implementation of Resolution 242 of November 22, 1967 and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the occupied Arab territories, which Egypt had repeatedly emphasized.

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President Sadat’s close links with Saudi Arabia’s King Faisal and oil rich Persian Shiekhdoms provided Egypt an opportunity to play an important role in the 1973 oil crisis and to impose oil embargo on US. This brought an important change in US policy towards Middle East, which caused US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to make several visits in the area. The US government started taking keen interest in the peace negotiation in the Middle East.

President Nixon’s visit to Egypt and ME in June 1974 was an important event in the history of ME conflicts. This visit brought Egypt and US closer. It paved the way for the Egyptian government to use the Americans in its political strategy against Israel. It was an important change in the foreign policy of Egypt.

Sadat’s close relation with the US brought about his dramatic visit to the Jewish state between November 19-21, 1977 – an extraordinary event in the history of Arab-Israeli conflicts. His bold and courageous step, despite strong opposition from his Arab partners, contributed much to peace initiatives in the area. He was named “Man of the Year” by Time Magazine.