Conceptions of Israel and the Formation of Egyptian Foreign Policy: 1952-1981
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The London School of Economics and Political Science | ; Conceptions of Israel and the Formation of Egyptian Foreign Policy: 1952-1981 Ewan Stein A thesis submitted to the Department of International Relations of the London School of Economics and Political Science for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, December 2007 UMI Number: U61BB81 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U613381 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 .ibrary itxaryo»Pcmc* ifr^nanuaaanflB Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of the author. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. Ewan Stein m ses F sstv Abstract This thesis examines conceptions of Israel in the formation of Egyptian foreign policy during the eras of Nasser and Sadat, with the particular goal of clarifying the way in which Israel was conceptualised following the October 1973 War and the beginning of a process of ‘normalisation’ between the two states. It suggests that examining ideas in terms of paradigms is more useful than using the concept of ‘identity’ to understand the evolution of ideas about Israel in Egypt. I argue that Israel has been conceptualised by Egyptian intellectuals and regimes from within three main paradigms, which I term ‘anti-imperialism’, ‘the nation-state’ and the ‘culture-clash.’ Although these paradigms were closely associated with Egyptian Marxist, liberal and Islamist political movements, the thesis shows that from 1952 thinkers associated with these movements, as well as regimes, combined elements of the different paradigms in conceptualising Israel in ways that changed over time. The thesis draws on Antonio Gramsci, Karl Mannheim and E.H. Carr to make the theoretical argument that conceptions of other state actors must be understood in relation to a state’s international and regional priorities as well as the way in which regimes, and ‘counter-hegemonic’ movements, seek to connect intellectually with key domestic constituencies. While Carr and modem constructivist IR theorists help shed light on the regional and international factors contributing to the adoption of certain conceptions of Israel at the level of the state, viewing Egyptian politics through a Gramscian lens highlights domestic political factors and their interaction with regional and global dynamics. I conclude that where there is an ideological disconnect between elites and masses—where a Gramscian ‘historical bloc’ is absent—conceptions of international politics and the nature of other state actors may be configured with reference to the idea systems promoted and accepted by ‘counter hegemonies’ and constitute neither ‘masks’ for self-interested foreign policy nor reflections of an evolving national identity. 3 Acknowledgements First, I thank my supervisor, Professor Fred Halliday, for his unwavering encouragement, generosity of spirit, humour and wisdom. In addition, I would like to thank the Department of International Relations at the London School of Economics for financial support throughout the writing of this thesis, as well as for providing a supportive and stimulating research environment. Professors Margot Light and Michael Cox as well as Drs Roy Allison and Amnon Aran have, in the context of research workshops provided incisive comments and suggestions at different stages of the thesis, as have many fellow students. I am also grateful to the staff of the al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo for their hospitality and assistance in August 2006 and for the use of their library. I thank Mr. Adel Sadik and Drs El-Sayed Yassin, Emad Gad, Gamal Abdel Gawad, Sa’d Eddine Ibrahim, Abdel Wahhab Elmessiri and Hazim Saghie for generously offering me their time and insights. I have also valued the friendship of Carl Dundas and Richard Ratcliffe, who read and commented on draft chapters, and provided much helpful discussion and reassurance. I am eternally grateful to my mother, Hilary Bridge, and my mother-in-law, Wende Ang, for providing childcare without which this thesis would definitely have remained a madman’s fantasy. Above all, I thank my wife Jennifer for her constant love and support, willingness to read and re-read drafts, and hawk-like proofreading services. And Maisie, our baby girl, who arrived just in time for the final stages of writing, reminded me every day with her smiles that there were more important things than this thesis. 4 Table of Contents Declaration......................................................................................................................... 2 Abstract...............................................................................................................................3 Acknowledgements............................................................................................................4 Table of Contents.............................................................................................................. 5 Chapter 1: Introduction................................................................................................... 8 The ‘Universalisation’ of Foreign Policy Goals.......................................................................9 Ideas and Foreign Policy Decision-Making in Egypt............................................................10 The ‘Non-Hegemonic’ Nature of the Egyptian State.............................................................12 Paradigms for Understanding Israel ........................................................................................ 13 The Role of Ideas in International Relations and Foreign Policy Analysis......................... 18 Studies of Egyptian Ideas on Israel .........................................................................................25 Rationale and Methodology..................................................................................................... 29 The Organisation of the Thesis................................................................................................ 31 Chapter 2: Theorising Foreign Policy Ideas in Non-Hegemonic States................36 The Universalisation of Foreign Policy..................................................................................37 The State and Intellectuals ....................................................................................................... 42 The role of Counter-Hegemonic Intellectuals........................................................................52 Conclusion.................................................................................................................................54 Chapter 3: Egyptian Liberal Nationalism, Islamism and Marxism from the 1870s until 1952................................................................................................................57 Traditional Intellectuals in Egypt: the Ulema .........................................................................58 The Emergence of Nationalism............................................................................................... 60 The Effendiya .............................................................................................................................67 Changes in Bourgeois Orientations.........................................................................................69 Effendiya Intellectual Orientations..........................................................................................71 The Communist Movement..................................................................................................... 72 5 The Convergence of the Communist and Nationalist Movements.......................................76 Conclusion................................................................................................................................ 77 Chapter 4: Ideological Development in Egypt: 1952 -1981.....................................81 Ideological Development under Nasser..................................................................................82 The Continuing Salience of Islam in Society........................................................................ 97 Ideological Change after 1967 ...............................................................................................102 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................. 114 Chapter 5: The Anti-Imperialism Paradigm......................................................... 119 The Anti-Imperialism Paradigm in Nasserist Foreign Policy Doctrine.............................123