Shimon Shamir - Egypt From Monarchy to Republic: A Reassessment of Revolution and Change

Egypt from Monarchy to Republic

A Reassessment of Revolution and Change

EDITED BY Shimon Shamir

First published 1995 by Westview Press, Inc.

Published 2021 by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Copyright 1995 by Taylor & Francis

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Egypt from monarchy to republic: a reassessment of revolution and change / edited by Shimon Shamir. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 0-8133-8658-6 1. EgyptHistory1952- I. Shamir, Shimon. DT107.825.E394 1995 962.05dc20

94-46620 CIP

ISBN 13: 978-0-3670-1110-9 (hbk) ISBN 13: 978-0-3671-6097-5 (pbk)

DOI: 10.4324/9780429040962

1 Egypt's Political Experience: The 1952 Revolution as an Expression of the Historical Heritage, P. J. Vatikiotis

2 The Continuity of the Egyptian State and the Ambiguity of the Revolution, Gabriel Ben-Dor

3 Islam in the State: Pragmatism and Growing Commitment, Michael Winter

PART 2: ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PATTERNS

4 Reflections on the Extent of Egypt's Revolution: Socioeconomic Indicators, John Waterbury

5 Egypt from Laissez-Faire to "Soft Revolution": Birthrates, Saving Patterns, and Economic Growth, Gad G. Gilbar

6 Agricultural Cooperatives: Continuity and Change in Rural Egypt, James B. Mayfield

7 Foreign Capital, Foreign Communities, and the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, Robert L. Tignor

8 Copts and Other Minorities in the Development of the Egyptian Nation-State, Thomas Philipp

9 The Seeming Duality: Patterns of Interpersonal Relations in a Changing Environment, Rivka Yadlin

PART 3: THE ROLE OF INTELLECTUALS

10 Continuity and Innovation in Egyptian Islam: The 'Ulama Vis--Vis the Militants, Hava Lazarus-Yafeh

11 From Banna to Qutb and "Qutbism": The Radicalization of Fundamentalist Thought Under Three Regimes, Olivier Carr

12 Liberalism: From Monarchy to Postrevolution, Shimon Shamir

13 An Intellectual Source for the Revolution: Tawfiq al-Hakirm's Influence on Nasser and His Generation, Israel Gershoni

14 Egyptian Intellectuals and the Revolution: The Case of 'Abd al-Rahman al-Rafi'i, Jack A. Crabbs, Jr.

15 Journalists and the Press: The Vicissitudes of Licensed Pluralism, Ami Ayalon

PART 4: ISSUES OF FOREIGN RELATIONS

16 A Revolution Prefigured: Foreign Policy Orientations in the Postwar Years, Eran Lerman

17 The Sudan's Path to Independence: Continuity and Change in Egypt's Policy Toward the Sudan, Gabriel R. Warburg

18 Egypt and the Palestine Question Before and After the Revolution, Itamar Rabinovich

In the modern historiography of Egypt, the year 1952 usually appears as the watershed separating the ancien regime of King Faruq and his predecessors from the new polity led by Presidents Nasser, Sadat, and Mubarak. It has been seen as the "great divide" between monarchical Egyptdominated as it was by the palace, the landed Pashas, the British interests, and the foreign communitiesand the populist republics run by a purely Egyptian military-bureaucratic elite. The logic of this periodization, which at first was so effectively projected by the spokesmen of the July revolution and so readily accepted by interpreters of contemporary Egypt, cannot be denied. Yet, as time passes and creates a greater perspective, the validity of this simplistic juxtaposition increasingly comes under question and the complexities of the problem emerge.

The case against the substantiality and finality of 1952 as a turning point is inspired and enhanced by a number of highly visible developments that emerged in the 1970s. It is argued that in the realities of present-day Egypt, many facets of pre-1952 life that were thought to have been eradicated or decisively diminished by the revolution can be observed once again. Capitalism is back. Infitah policies have considerably liberalized the Arab Socialist, state-controlled economic system, and an entrepreneurial class has resurfaced. Foreign companies and businesspeople again make their presence felt in the affluent quarters of Cairo. Party politics have reappeared on the ruins of the Nasserite "guided democracy" and one-party system, and even though not completely restored, some of their major components, such as the Wafd and the Muslim Brethren, are again playing important roles (with the Left once again being marginalized). The revolutionary ideological regimentation has been replaced by a lively public debate reminiscent of that which had prevailed before 1952. The radical Islamic forces, suppressed at the time by the essentially secular Nasserite regime, are again rallying forces to undermine the foundations of the nation-state. A pro-Western orientation dominates foreign policy and the revolution's heroic anti-imperialistic posture has been abandoned. Relations with the sister Arab states are now more congruent with Arab League-style politics as conducted by the monarchy than with the aggressive pan-Arab campaigns waged by the revolution, and the legitimacy of the particular Egyptian identity has been reinstituted. In shortthis argument suggestsEgypt became once again