Nasser and the Arab Nationalism

Name

Institution
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Research Questions..........................................................................................................................4
Theoretical Framework....................................................................................................................5
Literature Review............................................................................................................................5
Data Acquisition............................................................................................................................10
Report and Analysis.......................................................................................................................10
Conclusion/Summary....................................................................................................................14
 Introduction
The Arabic League, also known as League of Arab States is a regional association of

Arabic countries, which consists of counties around the horn of Africa, North Africa, and Arabia.

This association was founded in Cairo, Egypt on 22nd March in the year 1945.During that time,

its members included the kingdom of Iraq, the kingdom of Egypt, and Transjordan which was

later renamed Jordan in the year 1949 (Wendnt 1999). Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon.

However Yemen joined later that is on 5th May in the same year. Presently, this League has 22

members although Syrias involvement was suspended in November 2011 because of

governments tyranny during the war popular Syrian civil war.

The main plank of this league is to fondle the relations between its members and to

support collaboration between these states. Another goal of this association is to safeguard the

liberty and sovereignty of the member states as well as to consider the affairs and prosperity of

the Arabic countries (Kegley & Kegley, 1995). The Arab League acts through other institutions

like ALESCO and CAEU facilitates economic, social, cultural, political, and scientific programs,

which are aimed in promoting the interests of Arabic countries. LAS has also taken part as a

platform for its members to harmonize the positions of their policies , to deliberate on issues of

common interests and to arbitrate some Arab disputes as well as to reduce conflicts such as the

Lebanon Crisis which occurred in the year 1958 (Williams, 2016). The association has also

functioned as an avenue for drafting and culmination of several landmark documents aimed at

promoting economic synthesis and integrations.

The LAS memorial stamp exhibits the flags of eight established countries namely, Egypt,

Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Jordan Palestine, and Lebanon. Every single state that is a

member of LAS, has single vote in the League of council and the actions taken only bound the
states that have voted an are in support of them .The major goal of the League is to reinforce,

coordinate and manage that cultural social, political and economic programs of the member

states and to settle disputes in their midst and also among the third parties (Williams, 2016).

Additionally, the adoption and signing of the treaty of having a joint defense and having

economic cooperation on 13th April 1950 meant that members could have coordination of the

military defense actions. The secretary general of LAS in the year 2015 announced the formation

and establishment of a common defense force with the objectives of counteracting immoderation

and other threats and extortions to the Arab states. This pronouncement was made as a result of

the Operation Conclusive Storm that was intensifying in Yemen (Williams, 2016). However

participation in his project is uncompelled and the military intervenes if only requested by the

member state. The rising of process by which societies organizes itself in case of military

conflict and violence in this region as well as terroristic movement and activities , is the reason

why there was creation of JAF, which is financed and sponsored by the wealthy Gulf countries.

The League of Arab nations therefore seem to a reflection of the desire of the various countries

to collaborate. The need to collaborate did not just come the other day; it has been there since the

times of Nasser. Although during his time Nasser was unable to enforce Arab nationalism, it is

clear that his ideologies about nationalism are increasingly being adopted by the current state

nations of the Arab world. However, it his time, Nasser was not successful in creating the kind

of collaboration he wanted (Arab Nationalism) because of the interest of individual states

together with the approach he adopted.

Research Questions
1. What was Nassars view on nationalism?
2. How did Nassar use the League of Arab Nations in trying to promote Arab Nationalism?
 Theoretical Framework
The integration theory indicates that the nation states are at most times incapable of

fulfilling their economic, social and political tasks. As such, there is a need for them to delegate

the shared functions and aims to integration organizations that are more efficient and capable of

perfect implementation of roadmaps towards achieving the shared goals. Integration involves

implementation and operationalization of not only various commercial groupings but also

institutions. These can be free regional trade blocs which apply discrimination against

discrimination or protectionism against the outsiders or other forms of integration where

economic and political related policies are integrated (MacDonald, 2015). There are various

forms of integration that include customer unions, free trade areas, and common market that

enables member states or institutions to work together. To sum up, the integration theory means

that the interdependence between the nations involved determines their economic stability,

equilibrium conditions and development. The regional integration organizes countries into

certain types of regional organizations (Kelstrup & Williams, 2006). The theory notes that the

economy of the world is an independent organic system that promote globalization. Therefore,

integration is a setting between systemic elements that can be taken as an integrating structure

(Kelstrup & Williams, 2006). According to this theory, integration not only improves

competitiveness but also performance of groups of the respective groups of nations that stabilizes

their economic, political and social relationships. The most important aspect of integration is

interdependence. The functionalists aspect of the integration theory has its most important

aspect being effectiveness and appropriateness.

Literature Review
Nationalism can be categorized into two major groups, which are civic and ethnic

nationalism. The civic variant of nationalism is based on the principles of common values and
political community (Henderson, 2010). On the other hand, the ethnic variant of nationalism is

not only based on the common blood ties but also common history and membership to certain

ethnic groups (MacDonald, 2015). It has been argued that nationalism remains an indispensable

ingredient necessary for the survival nations and social justice. This kind of argument is based on

the view that nationalism acts as the glue that holds individuals together and the bond between

the individuals or groups of people to their state (Fawcett, 2013). Without the binding effect of

nationalism, the people in a country would not care for each other, and their state would risk

breaking up or even being taken by external powers. Countries where the principles embedded in

nationalism are not practiced can end up failing (Lorenz, 1989). An example of this is Somalia

where small groups of people acting out of self-interest have destabilized the country, which in

turn has led to the invasion of Somalia by the Kenyan and Ethiopian troops (Henderson, 2010).

The same applies to other countries such as Sudan and Afghanistan where the elites and the

governments have failed to make use of nationalism to consolidate control of their populations

and territory under the banner of one nation (Henderson, 2010). Failure to use nationalism

principles to bring stability in a country can also bring instability to international systems

because problems inherent in one country due to lack of nationalism can also spill across the

borders to other nations (Kedourie, 1962). Nationalism can, therefore, be considered as a tool

that can be used to prevent disorders in order to secure the citizen-state relationship.

Nationalism is a multi-faced ideology that not only expresses the claims for superiority

and recognition but one that is also characterized by an intrinsic moral ambivalence (Huysseune,

2002). Politically, the emergence of nationalism coincided with the affirmation of democratic and

liberal ideologies and in particular the popular concept of sovereignty. It calls for the

identification of the citizens of a particular country with the states government policy
reinforcing the identification (Henderson, 2010). It is not only based on the earlier mentioned

national identity but also relies on the presence of cultural, historical, religious and language

bonds (Fawcett, 2013). However, with the imperfect congruence of national identity and states,

nationalism is seen to be developing against and outside and against a nation state. Since

sovereign national states are the key constituent units of international systems, nationalism is

automatically incorporated as an important intrinsic feature of the international systems despite

being underestimated by theorists in international relations (Gordon, 2012). The national policies

of a country, the political power, and economic competition in an international platform where

political and economic powers differences remain outspoken contribute to the continued

existence of nationalism and its consequences to the international relations (Henderson, 2010).

For the sole reason that statehood is based on the recognition of various national identities, the

international system is constantly confronted by a vicious tension between the claims of the

minorities and maintaining stability (Williams, 2016). The international system has clearly been

depicted as being more attentive to the linguistic, cultural, and religious rights of the minorities.

In the present scenario where states are the key constituents of the international system, the

demise of nationalism is not anywhere near (Fawcett, 2013). Policies recognizing identities,

defending rights of minorities, support for the diminishment of unequal access to economic and

political power, and the need to reduce global economic imbalances are key contributors to the

pacification of nationalism.

Some scholars are apprehensive of the international cooperation between nations because

of the thought of mitigation of fairness by the differences of power that exist between nations

(Huysseune, 2002). The cooperation between nations is mainly dependent on the bargaining

power of the parties involved, and it is this bargaining power that in turn determines the cost and
benefits of the agreement between the nations (Kegley & Kegley, 1995). The countries that hold

powerful relationships benefits more than those that are disadvantaged in terms of bargaining

power, and the powerful nations are not likely to enter into a cooperation where they see not

potential benefits (Williams, 2016). Echoing the tenets of realism, every country looks out for

herself. Nationalism is one factor that can lead to failure in the corporation between nations

because it makes each nation want to fight to benefit more. In fact, nationalism can destroy

international relations especially by working against smaller nations (Fawcett, 2013). This is

because nationalism has a way of promoting the segregation of the perceived strong countries

from the countries that are weak. Besides, nationalism can also create rifts between the weak

countries. Strong nationalism in weak countries creates and promotes competition between these

countries, which makes it difficult for them to cooperate (MacDonald, 2015). The division

between the weak nations comes as a blessing to the strong nations because they end up

benefiting a lot. For instance, in the war between Iraq and Iran, the countries involved were

relatively poor but still went into war with the aim of preserving their national prestige

(Kedourie, 1962). Whilst the war was going on between these nations, the USSR and the US

reaped many benefits because they were the main sellers of arms to the warring parties.

This raises questions on the levels of the amount of nationalism that is healthy for a

country (Henderson, 2010). To answer this question, it becomes extremely important to state that

as described in the constructivist approach, the actions taken by the individual nations are not

independent of the identity of the people of those countries. The social construction approaches

focus on the challenges that are brought into international politics by the national identity

(Jankowski, 2002). In this case, national identity being part of nationalism becomes an important

study matter in international relations. The international relationships are not only influenced by
the strength or the magnitude of national identity but also by the content of nationalism and

especially national identity (Henderson, 2010). For instance, nationalism through national

identity remains the root cause of the long-lasting animosity between Russia and Ukraine

(MacDonald, 2015). The Ukrainian and Russian national identities are very contradicting which

makes it very difficult for the two to relate well to international politics. However, nationalism

can also promote the formation of alliances and especially regional ones (Kegley & Kegley,

1995). For instance, the League of Arab Stations is based on the shared identity of the member

states. The League of Arab States was formed by Arab nations including Syria, Egypt, Iraq,

Jordan, and Saudi Arabia (Williams, 2016). When nations have a shared identity, nationalism

becomes a unifying factor (Kegley & Kegley, 1995). Common interest can also stimulate the

formation of regional alliances. However, differences in the national interest between the

member states of the League of Arab States have always threatened the well-being of the

regional alliance (Williams, 2016).

In the words of Albert Einstein, Nationalism is an infantile disease, the measles of

mankind. Indeed, nationalism has been viewed as a way of brainwashing the citizens of a

country into hating their neighbors. In fact, political scientists blame nationalism for most

territorial ambitions and civil wars from Yugoslavia and Rwanda to Napoleonic France and Nazi

Germany. Similarly, a significant proportion of economists view nationalism as an irrational

ideology that impedes growth, disrupts free market principles and that promote corruption

especially in the developing world. Where war has broken, nationalism has automatically been

blamed for being a tool that leader use to seduce people into fighting or as the fuel that stokes

popular outrage. For this reason, nationalism combined with extreme patriotism has been blamed

as being the primary cause of the First World War. These factors led the great European powers
into developing an extreme belief in the own economic, cultural and military supremacy (Lorenz,

1989). It also led the European nations into competing for the largest navy and army or the

largest industrial development. Nationalism-spurred arrogance promoted and propagated by

media through literature, music, and theater all lead the world into the First World War. Despite

all this, nationalism has standout as having Medusa-like survival capacity.

Operationalization and Measurement of Variables

The dependent variable of this study is the stability of the League of Arab Nations at the

time of Gamal Abd al-Nassar. The independent variables are domestic affairs which include:

Deep mistrust, intense domestic nationalism, common enemy or interest

Data Acquisition
Data for this study was acquired from both primary and secondary sources including journals and
textbook contents. The data of interest included, the interest and policies of individual nations
and their leaders- Of particular the study payed attention to Gamal Abd al-Nassar and Egypt, the
common interest of the League of Arab States, the distrust between the member states, and the
stability of LAS in terms of the relations between the member states

Report and Analysis

The domestic policies and ambitions of different member states of Arab League is one

factor that vastly affected the stability of the regional balance. It is one of the rationale which

explains why the league was not able to alleviate violence in inter-Arab relations. Among the

nations whose domestic policies and ambitions affected the performance of the League is Egypt

during the reign of Gamal Abd al-Nassar. The case of Egypt clearly exhibits how domestic

principles can sabotage regional alliances and increase the possibility of violence and conflicts.

In the time of the first fifteen years of the reign of the Arab League, there was formation

of two coalitions with Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen which conventionally aligned with Egypt
while Iraq and Jordan set themselves contrary to the majority party (Zacher, 1968). Nonetheless,

when Gamal Abd al-Nassar rose in power, he began advocating for nationalism where he

appealed for the formation of one Arab state, something that led to the deterioration of the

coalitions that were already existing. Nasser petitioned to Arab nationalism by quoting the defeat

of Arab by Israel in 1948 (Williams, 2016). Nassars public speaking was solid and was

enthusiastic towards a collective formation of an Arab association (Cleveland &Bunton,

2013). Nassar held strong beliefs that the powerful strength of the Arab nation would defeat

imperialism and consequently defeat Israel (Williams, 2016). It is also candid that Nassar had

massive political and personal ambitions that can be manifested by a quotation from his book

that a savior had finally resided near the borders of his country and was beckoning them to move

(Williams, 2016). Nassar displayed strong will to unite the Arab countries and in this, he

perceived himself as the leader of the united Arab nation. In the year 1956, Nassar ventured into

nationalizing the Suez Canal which evoked a desire for Arab Nationalism and consequently

made him popular and widely supported (Fawcett, 2013).

Nassar was perceived to be a sturdy military leader who ventured into avenging the loss

that the Arab nations incurred to Israel and who as well liberated the Middle East from foreign

imperialism. Nassar as well used to his advantage the collective Arab anger and shame of the

1948 defeat to unite the Arab nations, by suggesting that the only way they could defeat Israel

was by unifying so as to create a collective strength (Williams, 2016). As Nassar become more

popular and powerful, he advocated for the revolutionary bents and called for socialist

ideologies, a behavior that initially the Arab leaders had originally formed Arab league to fight

against. Naasars control on the domestic politics in other Arab nations led to the Arab leaders

aligning against him and Egypt in general (Williams, 2016). Basically, Nassar was not a threat to
Middle East but he was instilling political ideas outside Egypt something that could upset the

already existing political state of affairs (Kedourie, 1962). Other Arab leaders felt that Nassar

was impeding their state dominion as he was intentionally brainwashing the popular domestic

opinions within their states.

Nassars revolutionary ideas and rhetorical invocations together with his devotion to

defeat Israel resulted in many people to aspire to be constituent of the new Arab League headed

by Nassar. This represented a tangible threat to the authority of the other Arab leaders. Nasser

prioritized his ambitions at the expense of the overall goal of the Arab League, in essentiality of

undermining the ability of the Arab League to mediate conflicts and create peace by disregarding

the basis of the League.

The third world states do not stand in solitude and isolation. They can be known in the

context of world economy and political system. The political activities in the undeveloped

counties are directly linked to the events in the first world states. However, these relations

between these countries are uneven. The flow of control and power comes from the first

countries and flows to the third world countries (Williams, 2016). Nasser saw this and this what

he was against. With the Arab countries being third world during his time, Nasser thought being

united would rescue the Arabs nations from the superior nations.

The Nassers ideologies are in line with the integration theory which indicates that the

nation states are at most times incapable of fulfilling their economic, social and political task. As

such, he was for the idea of Arab nationalism so that the nation states would work together. He

saw the need to delegate functions and aims to integration organizations that are more efficient

and capable of perfect implementation of roadmaps to achieving the shared goals. In his view,

the Arab nation would be such an organization. Integration involves implementation and
operationalization of not only various commercial groupings but also institutions. Nasser wanted

all the countries of the region to come together as one. His ideologies revolved around the

development free regional trade blocs which would apply discrimination or protectionism against

the outsiders or other forms of integration where economic and political related policies are

integrated. To sum up, Nasser was of the view that interdependence between nations involved

determines the economic stability, equilibrium conditions and development. The regional

integration organizes countries into certain types of regional organizations. According to his

views, integration of the nations would not only improve competitiveness but also performance

of groups of the respective groups of nations that stabilizes their economic, political and social

relationships. Nasser saw the most important aspect of integration as being interdependent. This

is in line functionalists aspect of the integration theory has their most important aspect being

effectiveness and appropriateness.

Indeed, what Nasser was advocating for is still being implemented by the Arab states but

using a different approach. The spirit of collaboration between the nations is still there. The

countries are trying as much as possible to work for each other and protect themselves from other

nations especially those of the West. The main aim of the League of the Arab nations is to

promote the relations between its members and to support collaboration between these states.

This is the same thing Nasser wanted for the Arab nation. Another goal of this association is to

safeguard the liberty and sovereignty of the member states as well as to consider the affairs and

prosperity of the Arabic countries (Kegley & Kegley, 1995). This was also in Nasser plans for

the Arab countries. The Arab League acts through other institutions like ALESCO and CAEU

facilitates economic, social, cultural, political, and scientific programs, which are aimed in

promoting the interests of Arabic countries. Similarly, by advocating for Arab nationalism,
Nasser was only trying to advocate for the wellness and interest of the Arab nations. However,

his approach was not appealing to most Arab leaders and his intentions were misread. As such,

his intended style of Arab collaboration ended up not succeeding. However, it laid a strong

foundation for the formation of fruitful collaboration that currently exist between the Arab

nations.

Conclusion/Summary
The domestic policies and ambitions of different member states of Arab League is one

factor that vastly affected the stability of the regional balance. Nasser and Egypts policies and

ambitions affected majorly affected the Arab League the alliance. The notion that the third world

countries have many general economic problems the same as the industrialized countries, and

this presents a general front, which makes them acquire leverage and be in a position to achieve

greater benefits from their relation with the other countries. This is the reason why Nasser

advocated for Arab nationalism. This report delineates the adverse effects of domestic politics on

alliances and its ill effects on conflict mediation. Nasser prioritized his and Egypts ambitions at

the expense of the overall goal of the Arab League and essentially undermining the ability of the

Arab League to mediate conflicts and create peace by disregarding the basis of the League.
 References

Fawcett, L. (2013). Alliances and regionalism in the middle east. International relations of the
Middle East, 185-204.
Fawcett, L. (2013). International relations of the Middle East. Oxford University Press.
Gordon, J. (2012). Nasser: Hero of the Arab nation. Oneworld Publications.
Jackson, R., & Srensen, G. (2016). Introduction to international relations: theories and
approaches. Oxford University Press.
Jankowski, J. P. (2002). Nasser's Egypt, Arab Nationalism, and the United Arab Republic. Lynne
Rienner Publishers.
Kelstrup, M., & Williams, M. (Eds.). (2006). International relations theory and the politics of
European integration: power, security and community. Routledge.
Kedourie, S. (Ed.). (1962). Arab Nationalism: An Anthology (No. 55). Univ of California Press.
Kegley, C. W., & Kegley, C. W. (1995). Controversies in international relations theory: Realism
and the Neoliberal Challenge (p. 5). New York: St. Martin's Press.
Lorenz, J. P. (1989). Egypt and the new Arab coalition. NATIONAL DEFENSE UNIV
WASHINGTON DC INST FOR NATIONAL STRATEGIC STUDIES.
MacDonald, R. W. (2015). The League of Arab States: A Study in Dynamics of Regional
Organization. Princeton University Press.
Williams, B. (2016). An Analysis of Regional Alliances: The Concert of Europe and the Arab
League.