Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, although Gamal Abdal Nasser infused the nation with a new, heady confidence and energy during the early part of his reign in the 1950s, his cult of personality failed to create important modern cultural and political structures that would enable Egypt to compete effectively with the West. The author points out Nasser's reign must be considered a fundamental and lasting failure based upon his sustained autocracy that created a template for strong-fisted and undemocratic cultural and political resistance to the West. The paper relates that Nasser did change the Middle East by asserting an ideological legacy, Pan-Arab unity and defiance to the economic control of the West but without creating a sustainable political system, which can tolerate dissent.

From the Paper:

"Maher al-Charif of the Institute d'Etudes Arabe in Damascus sees the failure of Nasser to transform his society primarly as an intellectual one. Nasser did not proceed beyond an ideology of resistance to the colonial legacy. Nasser failed because he did not understand that constructing a modern state and society required a free society and did not encourage liberal Islamic clerics who reconcile Islam with Western economic demands. Today, democracy and economic liberalism is now tainted with American cultural colonialism because of Nasser's refusal to let go of his autocratic controls over the Egyptian press and universities."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Alexander, Anne. Nasser: Life and times. Haus Publishers, 2005
• Bush, Ray. Economic Crisis and the Politics of Reform in Egypt. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1999.
• Freund, Charles Paul "Severed Heads: Arab Literary Fantasy and Terrible Reality." Reason. Dec. 2004.
• Maher al-Charif. "Egypt." In Social Protests and Nation Building in the Middle East and Central Asia. Keiko Sakai, Editor. Chiba, Japan: Institute of Developing Economies (IDE) of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO): 2003.
• Maksound, Clovis "From June 1967 to 1997: Learning from Our Mistakes." Arab Studies Quarterly. Summer 1997.

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