NANO-ck

Mise-à-jour le 25 March 2024, 3 minutes de lecture

1948 - 1979 : A new geopolitical order : Emergence of the middle east

New order in the middle east

Shifting regional balance of power in the middle east in the period 1949 - 1979 with

• Retraction of British/French power (incoming US/Societ power)
• Historic rise of new Nation-State Isreal and historic Arab

First Arab-Isreali War 1948 - 1949

• US/Europe recognize Isreal, Soviet bloc did too and the latter were chief in arming Isreal
• Isreali successful defense of independence, armistices in Feb-July 1949, with key legacies :
  • Isreal in control of 76% of land but isolated in Arab world - no secure borders/recognition of the land

Isreal : Building the “Progressive” Nation-State

• Ben-Gurion - immigration to Israel = highest mission of the state, July 1950 Law of Return stated “every Jew has the right to immigrate to the county”
• A secular Israel ? How important is religion to being Jewish ? task of balancing rich religious/cultural heritage in an inclusive state for Jews from all over
• Multiparty “Parliamentary democracy with 21 parties in first Knesset election in Jan 1949

The “Progressive” State : development and peace

21 point plan

• More than 200 new settlements, including near Jerusalem
• Irrigation projects in Negec and “nationalization” of water sources
• Eradivate ignorance, overcrowding and disease in slum areas = European standard of living for all
• Civil equality for women - suffrage/maternity leave/equal pay + equal rights for Arabs

Development and progress in Egypt

Part of Revolution

• Reclaim land to increase land under cultivation by 50%
• Extend irrigation/electrification with Aswan Dam
• Build industry - Construction, food procressing and textiles (by 1970, 23% of GDP)
• Promote literacy, primary, and secondary education (1956 : all public schools are free)

• Establish secular state - control Muslim institutions (eliminate Sharia courts)

• By 1955, Nasser has asserted leadership of his 3 circles : Arab, Islamic, and Africa; and in Developing world (as leader of Bandung Non-Aligned Pact)
• He also began purchase of Soviet arms in his concern to stand vs Israel, Britain in Sudan, Iraq (Ex : Baghdad Pact)

Rise of Nasserism and Pan-Arabism : Towards six day war

• 1958-1961 : United Arab Republic = Fusion of Egypt and Syria; Authoritarian regime
• 1961 : Syria withdraws from UAR
• 1962 : Yemen civil war - Egypt supports republicans, Saudi Arabia supports royalists

The cold war backdrop to Isreali - Egyptian Rivalry

• Khrushchev’s “Secret Speech” 1956 - denounces Stalin’s crimes
• Khruhschev’s several roads to communism meant support for anti-imperialist, socialist regimes, hence arming of Egypt/Syria in 1950s/1960s
• Isreali military support coming from West
• Eisenhower “Middle East Resolution” of 1957 - US troops in Lebanon in 1958 to stabilize governmentt against winds of Pan Arabism/Nasserism
• US preoccupation with Vietnam in 1960s - Soviet Union’s turn to support Egypt/Syria
• Isreali pre-emptive strike on Egypt in 1967 - Six Day War
• US-Soviet Détence - no superpower support, Sadat/Assad conspired to attack Isreal in 1973 - Yom Kippur War

Conclusion

• Decline of European Empires in Middle East is important context to post WWII
• Balance of power in the Middle East is reshaped by several overlapping histories :
  • The rise fo a democratic, liberal-socialist Isreal and an authoritarian, secular Egypt