Egypt

Abstract

In our investigation of whether contested state identities explain the lack of strategy toward Euro-Mediterranean region-building, this chapter analyzes the case of Egypt. Officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Al-Gumhuriyat Misr al-Arabiyya,¹ Egypt is probably the bestresearched Arab country in the literature. With around 70 million inhabitants (there are no precise figures), Egypt is also the most populous Arab country. For decades, Egypt stood at the center of Arab culture and politics, and it played a central role in the wider Arab–Israeli conflict, both in terms of war and peace. In view of these facts, along with the strengths of the Egyptian army, Egypt is a central player for any regional security scheme. Thus, the first part of this chapter concentrates on Egypt’s state identity, its construction and reconstruction, along with the challengers. The main focus here is the time–span starting with the 1952 coup of the Free Officers and Nasser’s rise to power in 1954. As Egypt was and is governed by an authoritarian regime, the institutional power to shape identity is discussed separately.