RESILIENCE OF THE NASSERIST IDEOLOGY IN EGYPT: FROM ITS EMERGENCE TO THE ARAB SPRING A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY CANAN ŞAHİN IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN MIDDLE EAST STUDIES FEBRUARY 2014 Approval of the Graduate School of Sciences ________________ Prof. Dr. Meliha ALTUNIŞIK Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science in Middle East Studies. ________________ Doç. Dr. Özlem Tür Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. ________________ Doç. Dr. Özlem Tür Supervisor Examining Committee Members Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özlem TÜR (METU, IR) ________________ Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ferdan ERGUT (METU, HIST) ________________ Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pınar BEDİRHANOĞLU (METU, IR) ________________ I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: Canan Şahin Signature : v ABSTRACT RESILIENCE OF THE NASSERIST IDEOLOGY IN EGYPT: FROM ITS EMERGENCE TO THE ARAB SPRING ŞAHİN, Canan M.S., Department of Middle East Studies Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özlem TÜR February 2014, 200 pages This thesis aims to analyze the relevance of the Nasserist ideology in the post-Tahrir Egyptian political scene by looking into its formation and transformation to date. It attempts to respond to the central question as to how come Nasserist ideology, which is thought to have fulfilled its mission at the end of the 1960s, seems to have been resurrected in the contemporary Egypt whether at the regime level in the embodiment of a military figure General Abdal Fattah Al-Sisi or at the oppositional level in the organisation and the persona of a once anti-Sadat and anti- Mubarak oppositional figure, Hamdeen Sabbahi. Whether the perceived popularity of the military and the pronouncement of a secular-nationalist discourse against the Muslim Brotherhood in a nostalgic Nasserism symbolized in the iconographic prevalence of Nasser’s images next to Al-Sisi is a marker of a resurrection in the face of a popular uprising that took place in Tahrir three years ago is the central puzzle of this study. The aspects of the Nasserist state regime that have been kept intact so far and their relevance to the action taken by the Egyptian military and civilian opposition since the Tahrir uprising are examined with an in-depth descriptive analysis drawing on the existing literature on Nasserism, Nasserist legacy after during Sadat and Mubarak, programs of Nasserist parties, public speeches of the military and civilian Nasserist figures and their media representation. Keywords: Nasserism, secular nationalism, Egypt, Arab Spring, coup d’etat vi ÖZ ORTAYA ÇIKIŞINDAN ARAP BAHARI’NA NASIRCI İDEOLOJİNİN MISIR’DAKİ DİRENCİ ŞAHİN, Canan Yüksek Lisans, Orta Doğu Çalışmaları Bölümü Tez Danışmanı: Doç. Dr. Özlem TÜR Şubat 2014, 200 sayfa Bu tez, Nasırcı ideolojinin Tahrir sonrası politik süreçte Mısır’a etkisini bu ideolojinin oluşumundan bugüne nasıl bir dönüşüm geçirdiğine bakarak inceleyecektir. Misyonunu 1960’ların sonunda tamamladığı düşünülen Nasırcılığın hem General Abdül Fettah El-Sisi nezdinde rejim düzeyinde hem de bir zamanların Enver Sedat ve Hüsnü Mubarek karşıtı Nasırcı figürü olan Hamdin Sabahi’nin nezdinde muhalif düzeyde nasıl yeniden canlandığını yanıtlamayı hedeflemektedir. Ordunun bugün algılanan popülaritesi ve Müslüman Kardeşler’e karşı kullanılan laik-milliyetçi söylemin nostaljik bir Nasırcılıkla telafuz edilmesinin yanısıra üç yıl once Tahrir’de gerçekleşen halk ayaklanmasını arkaplana alan sürecin El-Sisi’nin resimlerine eşlik eden Nasır posterlerinin ikonografik yaygınlığı ile sembolize ediliyor olmasının Nasırcılığın yeniden dirilişinin bir işareti olup olmadığı bu tezin anahtar bilmecesidir. Nasırcılığın hangi unsurlarının etkin olmaya devam ettiği ve bu unsurların Mısır Ordusu ve sivil muhalefete etkisi Nasırcılık üzerine var olan yazılı literatüre, Nasırcı parti programlarına, Sedat ve Mübarek dönemlerindeki Nasırcı mirasa, El-Sisi’nin ve Nasırcı sivil figür Hamdin Sabbahi’nin konuşmalarına ve bunların medya temsillerine bakılarak derinlemesine betimsel bir analizle incelenmektedir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Nasırcılık, laik milliyetçilik, Mısır, Arap Baharı, darbe vii To the Martyrs of Tahrir Revolution viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe a debt of gratitude to my supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özlem Tür for her priceless guidance, support and confidence. From the determination of the subject of this thesis to its completion she offered her invaluable judgment, observation and insight into every detail this thesis work includes. Without her encouragement, I would not have been able to finalize this work. I also wish to thank my mother Nevruz Şahin, my father Ali Şahin and my sister Özlem Şahin for their support and faith in me. My sister became a source of inspiration each time I felt discouraged during my studies. I would also like to thank my friend Fulya Arpacı for her invaluable support and encouragement. Finally, I would like to give my special thanks to Selen Yıldırım, who has supported me with her cheerful, loving, helpful and inspiring attitude throughout my studies. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM………….……………………………………………………….……v ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. vi ÖZ ......................................................................................................................,.......vii DEDICATION ....................................................................................................,,...viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..........................................................................................ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS…………………….......………..…………...…….,xiii CHAPTER CHAPTER I ............................................................................................................. 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER II .......................................................................................................... 17 Nasserism as a Political Ideology ........................................................................... 17 2.1. Class Roots of Free Officers ....................................................................... 19 2.2 Core Ideas of Nasserist Ideology ................................................................. 26 2.2.1.1 From Territorial Egyptianism to Pan-Arabism .............................. 28 2.2.1.2. Non-Alignment and Arab Unity .................................................... 36 2.2.2 Arab Socialism: From Populism to State Capitalism ............................ 39 2.2.2.1. Populism ........................................................................................ 41 2.2.2.2. Étatizm: Industrialization and Nationalization .............................. 43 2.2.2.3. Rise of the Bureaucratic class: State Capitalism ........................... 45 2.2.3. Corporatism: Coopting Working Class, Peasants, Party Politics ......... 47 2.2.3.1. State-led Unions: Incorporating Working Class ........................... 48 2.2.3.2. Land Reform: Incorporating Peasants ........................................... 50 2.2.3.3. Arab Socialist Union: Classless Society, Single Party .................. 53 2.2.4. Militarism: Creating A Power Elite ..................................................... 57 2.2.5. Secularism: Anti-Islamist Egyptian Nationalism ................................. 58 2.3. Chapter Summary ........................................................................................ 60 CHAPTER III ......................................................................................................... 61 Nasserist Ideology During Sadat and Mubarak Era ............................................... 61 x 3.1 Nasserism during the Sadat Era ................................................................... 63 3.1.1 Denasserization-Discontinuities ............................................................ 64 3.1.1.1. Arab Socialism: From State Capitalism to Infitah ........................ 65 3.1.1.2. Arab Nationalism: From Soviet oriented Non-Alignment to Pro Westernism ................................................................................................. 68 3.1.1.3. Secularism: From Oppressing Muslim Brotherhood to Cooptation .................................................................................................................... 69 3.1.2 Continuities ........................................................................................... 71 3.1.2.1. Militarism under Sadat: A coercive and collaborative Power Block .................................................................................................................... 71 3.1.2.2. Cooptation: Political Platforms in Arab Socialist Union .............. 72 3.2. Nasserism under Mubarak Era .................................................................... 74