Pan-Arabism
| Arab League |
 This article is part of the series: |
|
|
| Arab World |
 This article is part of the series: |
|
|
Pan-Arabism is an ideology espousing the unification of the peoples and countries of the Arab world, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea. It is closely connected to Arab nationalism, which asserts that the Arabs constitute a single nation. Its popularity was at its height during the 1960s. Advocates of Pan-Arabism have often espoused socialist principles and strongly opposed Western political involvement in the Arab world. It also sought to empower Arab states from outside forces by forming alliances and, to a lesser extent, economic co-operation.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Origins and development
The origins of Pan-Arabism are often attributed to Jurji Zaydan (died 1914) and his Nahda (Revival) movement. Zaydan had critical influence on acceptance of a modernized version of the Quranic Arabic language as the universal written and official language throughout the Arab world, instead of adoption of local dialects in the various countries. He also popularized through his historical novels certain heroes from the Arab history. Pan-Arabism was first pressed by Sharif Hussein ibn Ali, the Sharif of Mecca, who sought independence for the Mashreq Arabs from the Ottoman Empire, and the establishment of a unified Arab state in the Mashreq. In 1915-16, the Hussein-McMahon Correspondence resulted in an agreement between the United Kingdom and the Sharif that if the Mashreq Arabs revolted successfully against the Ottomans, the United Kingdom would support claims for Mashreq Arab independence. In 1916, however, the Sykes-Picot Agreement between the United Kingdom, and France determined that parts of the Mashreq would be divided between those powers rather than forming part of an independent Arab state. When the Ottoman Empire surrendered in 1918, the United Kingdom refused to keep to the letter of its arrangements with Hussein,[2] and the two nations assumed guardianship of the Mesapotamia, Lebanon, Palestine and what became modern Syria. Ultimately, Hussein only became King of Hijaz in the then less strategically valuable south, but lost his Caliphate throne when the kingdom was sacked by the Najdi Ikhwan forces of the Saudites and forcefully incorporated into the newly-created Kingdom of Saudi Arabia).
A more formalized pan-Arab ideology than that of Hussein was first espoused in the 1930s, notably by Syrian thinkers such as Constantin Zureiq, Zaki al-Arsuzi and Michel Aflaq. Aflaq and al-Arsuzi were key figures in the establishment of the Arab Ba’ath (Renaissance) Party, and the former was for long its chief ideologist, combining elements of Marxist thought with a nationalism to a considerable extent reminiscent of nineteenth century European romantic nationalism. It's been said that Arsuzi was fascinated with the Nazi ideology of "racial purity" and impacted Aflaq.[3][4][5]
Abdallah of Jordan dreamed of uniting Syria, Palestine, and Jordan under his leadership in what he would call Greater Syria. He proposed a plan to this effect to Britain, which controlled Palestine at that time, but to no avail. The plan was not popular among the majority of Arabs and fostered distrust among the leaders of the other Middle Eastern countries against Abdallah. This distrust of Abdallah's expansionist aspirations was one of the principle reasons for the founding of the Arab League in 1945.[6] Once Abdallah was assassinated by a Palestinian nationalist in 1951, the vision of Greater Syria was dropped from the Jordanian agenda.[1]
The pan-Arab ideology has been accused of racism, inciting prejudice against and downplaying the role of non-Arab peoples, such as the Berbers,[7] Turks, Jews, Persians, Maronites[8][9] and others.[10] Although Pan-Arabism began at the time of World War I, Egypt, the most populous and arguably most important Arabic-speaking country, was not interested in Pan-Arabism prior to the 1950s. Thus, in the 1930s and 1940s, Egyptian nationalism - and not Pan-Arabism - was the dominant mode of expression of Egyptian political activists. According to James Jankowski, "What is most significant [about Egypt in this period] is the absence of an Arab component in early Egyptian nationalism. The thrust of Egyptian political, economic, and cultural development throughout the nineteenth century worked against, rather than for, an 'Arab' orientation.... This situation—that of divergent political trajectories for Egyptians and Arabs—if anything increased after 1900."[11]
[edit] Attempts at Arab union
It was not until the Gamal Abdel Nasser era that Arab nationalism, and by extension Arab socialism, became a state policy and a means with which to define Egypt's position in the Middle East and the world,[12][13] usually articulated vis-à-vis Zionism in the neighboring Jewish state of Israel.
There have been several attempts to bring about a Pan-Arab state by many well known Arab leaders, all of which ultimately resulted in failure. The United Arab Republic (UAR) in 1958 was the first attempt. Formed under Nasser, it was a union between Egypt and Syria, although Nasser exerted so much control over the union that the UAR functioned more as a Nasserist takeover rather than a cooperation between two governments. It lasted in this form until 1961, when Syria withdrew from the union. In April 1963, Egypt, Syria and Iraq agreed to form a new 'United Arab Republic', which was to be entirely federal in structure, leaving each member state its identity and institutions."[1] The UAR was finally abolished in 1971 due to irreconcilable differences between Syria and Egypt.[14]
Two later attempts were conducted by Libya's Muammar al-Gaddafi; these were the Federation of Arab Republics and the Arab Islamic Republic. Both failed before beginning. The unity of seven Arab emirates that form the United Arab Emirates stands today as the only example of successful unification between Arab neighbors. The current Syrian government is, and the former government of Iraq was, led by the Ba’ath Party, which espouses pan-Arabism.
[edit] Decline
The Arab defeat by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War and the inability of pan-Arabist governments to generate economic growth severely damaged the credibility of pan-Arabism as a relevant ideology. "By the mid-1970s," according to The Continuum Political Encyclopedia of the Middle East, "the idea of Arab unity became less and less apparent in Arab politics, though it remained a wishful goal among the masses."[1]
The Egyptians' attachment to pan-Arabism was particularly questioned after the Six-Day War. Nasser had overplayed his hand in trying to form a pan-Arab hegemony under himself. Thousands of Egyptians had lost their lives and the country became disillusioned with Arab politics.[15] The Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel in 1978 further fractured the Arabic-speaking countries. Nasser's successor Anwar Al Sadat, both through public policy and his peace initiative with Israel, revived an uncontested Egyptian orientation, unequivocally asserting that only Egypt and Egyptians were his responsibility. The terms "Arab", "Arabism," and "Arab unity" became conspicuously absent.[16]
By the late 1980s, pan-Arabism began to be eclipsed by both nationalist and Islamist ideologies. In the 1990s, many voiced their opposition to pan-Arabism. For instance, some Kuwaitis viewed Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 as caused by an urge for pan-Arabism.[17]
Egyptian critics of Arab nationalism contend that it has worked to erode and/or relegate native Egyptian identity by superimposing only one aspect of Egypt's culture. These views and sources for collective identification in the Egyptian state are captured in the words of a linguistic anthropologist who conducted fieldwork in Cairo:
| “ | Historically, Egyptians have considered themselves as distinct from 'Arabs' and even at present rarely do they make that identification in casual contexts; il-'arab [the Arabs] as used by Egyptians refers mainly to the inhabitants of the Gulf states... Egypt has been both a leader of pan-Arabism and a site of intense resentment towards that ideology. Egyptians had to be made, often forcefully, into "Arabs" [during the Nasser era] because they did not historically identify themselves as such. Egypt was self-consciously a nation not only before pan-Arabism but also before becoming a colony of the British Empire. Its territorial continuity since ancient times, its unique history as exemplified in its pharaonic past and later on its Coptic language and culture, had already made Egypt into a nation for centuries. Egyptians saw themselves, their history, culture and language as specifically Egyptian and not "Arab."[18] | ” |
[edit] See also
- 2010-11 Arab World Protests
- Arab Federation
- Arab Islamic Republic
- Arab Maghreb Union
- Arab socialism
- Federation of Arab Republics
- Pan-Arab colors
- Pan Arab Games
- Pan-Islamism
- Pan-Turkism
- United Arab Republic
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d "Arab Unity." The Continuum Political Encyclopedia of the Middle East. Ed. Avraham Sela. New York: Continuum, 2002. pp. 160-166.
- ^ Contemporary Politics in the Middle East, Beverly Milton-Edwards, Polity Press, 2006, p.57-59
- ^ The Syrian Arab Republic: a handbook, Anne Sinai, Allen Pollack, 1976, p. 45
- ^ Google Books
- ^ Pan-Arabism and Arab nationalism: the continuing debate by Tawfic Farah, Publisher Westview Press, 1987, p. 37
- ^ Sela, Avraham. "Arab League." Sela. The Continuum Political Encyclopedia of the Middle East. 147-150.
- ^ Pelham, Nick. "Moroccan Berbers press for rights." BBC News. 2 January 2001. 18 November 2010.
- ^ Google Books
- ^ Google Books
- ^ Raymond A. Hinnebusch, Anoushiravan Ehteshami, The Foreign Policies of Middle East States. Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2002. p. 169
- ^ Jankowski, James. "Egypt and Early Arab Nationalism" in Rashid Khalidi, ed. The Origins of Arab Nationalism. New York: Columbia University Press, 1990, pp. 244-45
- ^ For more information, see Aburish, Said K. (2004), Nasser, the Last Arab, New York City: St. Martin's Press, ISBN 9780312286835
- ^ "Before Nasser, Egypt, which had been ruled by Britain since 1882, was more in favor of territorial, Egyptian nationalism and distant from the pan-Arab ideology. Egyptians generally did not identify themselves as Arabs, and it is revealing that when the Egyptian nationalist leader [Saad Zaghlul] met the Arab delegates at Versailles in 1918, he insisted that their struggles for statehood were not connected, claiming that the problem of Egypt was an Egyptian problem and not an Arab one." Makropoulou, Ifigenia. Pan - Arabism: What Destroyed the Ideology of Arab Nationalism?. Hellenic Center for European Studies. January 15, 2007.
- ^ "United Arab Republic (UAR)." Sela. The Continuum Political Encyclopedia of the Middle East. 873-874.
- ^ Dawisha, p. 237
- ^ Dawisha, pp. 264-65, 267
- ^ Kuwait-embassy.or.jp
- ^ Haeri, Niloofar. Sacred language, Ordinary People: Dilemmas of Culture and Politics in Egypt. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 2003, pp. 47, 136.
