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TheArab Cold War (Arabic:الحرب العربية الباردةal-ḥarb al-`arabiyyah al-bāridah) was a political rivalry in theArab world from the early 1950s to the late 1970s or early 1990s and a part of the widerCold War. It is generally accepted that the beginning of the Arab Cold War is marked by theEgyptian Revolution of 1952, which led toGamal Abdel Nasser becomingpresident of Egypt in 1956. Thereafter, newly formed Arab republics, inspired by revolutionary secularnationalism andNasser's Egypt, engaged in political rivalries with conservativetraditionalist Arab monarchies, influenced bySaudi Arabia. TheIranian Revolution of 1979, and the ascension ofAyatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as leader of Iran, is widely seen as the end of this period of internal conflicts and rivalry. A new era ofArab-Iranian tensions followed, overshadowing the bitterness of intra-Arab strife.
Nasser espousedsecularpan-Arabnationalism andsocialism as a response to the perceived complicity of the Arab monarchies in Western interference in the Arab world. He also opposed the monarchies' support ofrentierism andIslamism. Later Nasser embraced the Palestinian cause, albeit within the framework of pan-Arabism.[7] After Egypt's political victory in the 1956Suez Crisis, known in the Arab world as theTripartite Aggression, Nasser and hisassociated ideology quickly gained support in other Arab countries, from Iraq in the east to French-occupied Algeria in the west. In several Arab countries, such asIraq,North Yemen andLibya, conservative regimes were overthrown and replaced by revolutionary republican governments. Meanwhile, Arab countries under Western occupation, such asAlgeria andSouth Yemen, experienced nationalist uprisings aimed at national liberation. At the same time, Syria, which was already strongly Arab nationalist, formed a short-lived federal union with Egypt called theUnited Arab Republic. Several otherattempts were made to unite the Arab states in various configurations, but all attempts were unsuccessful.
Following their independence the monarchies ofSaudi Arabia,Jordan andMorocco, as well as theGulf states, formed an alliance to directly or indirectly counter Egyptian influence.[8] Saudi Arabia and Jordan, previously rivals over the competing claims of their respective dynasties, worked closely together to support the royalist faction in theNorth Yemen Civil War. The conflict became a proxy war between Egypt andSaudi Arabia following the establishment of the NasseristYemen Arab Republic in 1962.
The term "Arab Cold War" was first used byMalcolm H. Kerr, anAmericanpolitical scientist andMiddle East scholar, in his 1965 book of the same name and subsequent editions.[9]
The Arab Cold War was linked to the global confrontation between theUnited States and theSoviet Union, as the United States supported the conservative monarchies led by Saudi Arabia, while the Soviet Union supported the Egyptian-led republics that adhered toArab socialism. This was despite the republics' suppression of internal Arabcommunist movements. The Arab revolutionary nationalist republican movement supportedanti-American,anti-Western,anti-imperialist, and anti-colonial revolutionary movements outside the Arab world, such as theCuban Revolution. In contrast, the Arab monarchist movement supported conservative governments in predominantly Muslim countries such asPakistan.
The Arab Cold War is thought to have ended in the late 1970s as a result of several factors. The success of the State of Israel in theSix-Day War of 1967 undermined the strategic strength of both Egypt and Nasser. The resolution of the North Yemen Civil War, although brokered by Nasser andKing Faisal of Saudi Arabia, was a victory for the Egyptian-backed Yemeni Republicans. The intense Egyptian-Saudi rivalry faded dramatically as attention focused onEgypt's efforts to liberate its own territory under Israeli occupation.
After Nasser's death in 1970,Anwar Sadat became president and departed significantly from Nasser's revolutionary platform, both domestically and in regional and international affairs. In particular, Sadat sought to establish a close strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia under King Faisal, which was crucial to Egypt's success in the first part of theYom Kippur War of 1973. Building on these early successes, Sadat completely distanced himself from Nasserism by ending Egypt's strategic alliance with the Soviet Union and aligning himself instead with the United States. In 1978, he negotiated apeace treaty with the state of Israel that required the removal of all Israeli military personnel and settlers from Egyptian land. Sadat's peace treaty not only alienated Nasserists and other secular Arab nationalists, but also enraged Islamists, who denounced him as an apostate[citation needed]. This eventually led to hisassassination by the Egyptian Islamic Jihad in 1981. Egypt was suspended from theArab League, leading to its virtual isolation in the region. Meanwhile, Islamism grew in popularity, culminating in the 1979Iranian Revolution. This establishedShi'aIran as a regional power committed to overthrowing the predominantlySunni governments of Arab states, both republican and monarchical. After the outbreak of theIran–Iraq War in the early 1980s, Egypt, still suspended from the Arab League, joined Saudi Arabia in supportingSunni-led Iraq againstShi'ite Iran. At the same time, the Sunni–Shi'a conflict in other parts of the region, such asLebanon, became anew proxy conflict between the regional powers of the two Muslim sects.
In 1956, onlyEgypt,Syria,Lebanon,Tunisia, andSudan were republics. All of these Arab states subscribed to some degree to Arab nationalist ideology. Jordan and Iraq were both ruled byHashemite monarchies.Morocco,Libya, Saudi Arabia andNorth Yemen had independent dynasties.Algeria,South Yemen,Oman and theTrucial States were either underFrench colonial rule orBritish occupation. In 1960,Iraq,Tunisia,Algeria andNorth Yemen had republican governments or Arab nationalist insurgencies. Meanwhile, Lebanon was experiencing anear-civil war between US-allied government factions and Soviet- and Egyptian-allied Arab nationalist factions.[citation needed]
The dates of the conflicts in this period vary from source to source. Jordanian sources date the beginning of the Arab Cold War to April 1957,[10] while Palestinian sources identify the period from 1962 to 1967 as the most significant for them within a wider Arab context.[11]
TheFree Officers Movement overthrewKing Farouk during theEgyptian Revolution of 1952. Led byMohamed Naguib andGamal Abdel Nasser, the Free Officers implemented a program to transform Egypt by reducingfeudalism, endingBritish influence and abolishing the monarchy and aristocracy. In 1953 they established Egypt as a republic.[12]
On 26 July 1956, Nasser nationalized theSuez Canal after Britain and the United States withdrew their offer to finance the construction of theAswan Dam in response to Egypt's new relationship with the Soviet Union. Britain and France then made a pact with Israel to invade Egypt together, but were forced to back down in what became known as theSuez Crisis. Nasser emerged from the crisis with great prestige as the "unchallenged leader ofArab nationalism".[13]
Nasser used various political tools to increase his visibility in the Arab world. These included radio programs such as Voice of the Arabs and the use of politically active Egyptian professionals, often teachers.
| 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | 206 | 293 | 401 | 500 | 454 | 551 | 727 | 866 | 1027 |
| Jordan | - | 8 | 20 | 31 | 56 | - | - | - | - |
| Lebanon | 25 | 25 | 39 | 36 | 75 | 111 | 251 | 131 | 104 |
| Kuwait | 114 | 180 | 262 | 326 | 395 | 435 | 490 | 480 | 411 |
| Bahrain | 15 | 15 | 18 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 28 | 36 |
| Morocco | - | - | - | 20 | 75 | 81 | 175 | 210 | 334 |
| Sudan | - | - | - | - | 580 | 632 | 673 | 658 | 653 |
| Qatar | - | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 14 | 17 | 18 | 24 |
| Libya | 55 | 114 | 180 | 219 | 217 | 232 | 228 | 391 | 231 |
| Yemen | - | 12 | 11 | 8 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 0 |
| Iraq | 76 | 112 | 121 | 136 | 63 | 449 | - | - | - |
| Palestine | 13 | 32 | 34 | 37 | 46 | 120 | 166 | 175 | 165 |
| Somalia | - | - | 25 | 23 | 57 | 69 | 90 | 109 | 213 |
In July 1958, theHashemite Kingdom of Iraq wasoverthrown with the monarchy removed and replaced by an Arab nationalist republic. As a result, the king, crown prince, prime minister and most of the royal family was killed by the nationalist revolutionaries. At the time, the forces supportive to Nasser and nationalism seemed to be gaining strength, while the older Arab monarchies seemed to be in danger.[13] In 1969, theKingdom of Libya underKing Idris wasoverthrown by theFree Officers Movement of Libya, a group of rebel military officers led by ColonelMuammar Gaddafi.
In Saudi Arabia, some Saudi princes (led byPrince Talal bin Abdul Aziz) supported Nasser's cause ofArab socialism because of his popularity.[13] In 1962 a Saudi air force pilot defected toCairo.[13] In 1965 and 1966 there were signs of unrest and subversion, particularly in Saudi Arabia's oil-producing region.[13] In 1969, the Saudi government uncovered aNasserist plot involving 28 army officers, 34 air force officers, nine other military personnel and 27 civilians.[15][13]
In the early 1960s, Nasser sent anexpeditionary army to Yemen to support theanti-monarchist forces in the North Yemen Civil War. The Yemeni royalists were supported by the monarchies of Saudi Arabia and Jordan. In December 1962, the Egyptian air force attacked Saudi border towns such asNajran.[13]
By the end of the 1960s, Nasser's prestige had declined due to the political failure of theunion between Egypt and Syria, military setbacks in Yemen, where the civil war reached astalemate despite his commitment of thousands of troops to overthrow the monarchists, and especially against Israel, where Egypt lost theSinai Peninsula and suffered the loss of 10,000 to 15,000 troops in theSix-Day War. In late 1967, Egyptian President Nasser and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal signed a treaty. According to the treaty, Nasser would withdraw the 20,000 Egyptian troops from Yemen, Faisal would stop sending arms to the Yemeni royalists, and three neutral Arab states would send observers.[16]
Although the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had a smaller population than Egypt, it had oil wealth and prestige due to the cities ofMecca andMedina,Islam's two holiest cities. In 1962, Saudi Arabia sponsored an international Islamic conference in Mecca to use Islam as a counterweight to Nasser's Arab socialism. This led to the creation of theMuslim World League, dedicated to spreading Islam and promoting Islamic solidarity. The League was effective in promoting conservativeWahhabi Islam and combating radical foreign ideologies, such as Arab socialism, in theMuslim world.[17]
The Islamic revival strengthened throughout the Arab world, especially after theSix-day War. After Nasser's death in 1970, his successorAnwar Sadat shifted the focus to religion and economic liberalization, away from Arab nationalism and socialism. Egypt's military slogan "Land, Sea and Air" was replaced by the Islamic battle cry ofAllahu Akbar in the perceived "shattering" defeat in theYom Kippur War.[20][21] Although the October 1973 war was launched by Egypt andSyria to recover land captured byIsrael in 1967, according toFrenchpolitical scientistGilles Kepel, the "real victors" of the war were the Arab "oil-exporting countries". Theirembargo on Israel's Western allies helped the US to pressure Israel to limit its counter-offensive.[22] The political success of the embargo enhanced the prestige of those who imposed it. In addition, the reduction in global oil supply caused the price of oil to rise from US$3 to almost $12 a barrel,[23] increasing the revenues of oil exporters. This gave the Arab oil-exporting states a dominant position within the Muslim world,[22] with Saudi Arabia by far the largest exporter (see bar chart above).[22]
In Egypt, theMuslim Brotherhood, which was supported by Saudi Arabia and had been suppressed by the Egyptian government, was allowed to publish a monthly magazine and its political prisoners were gradually released.[24] Islamists gained control of the universities,[25] forcing left-wing and pan-Arab (anti-Sadat) student organizations underground.[26] By the end of the 1970s,Sadat described himself as 'The Believer President'. He banned most alcohol sales and ordered Egyptian state television to interrupt programs in order to broadcast thesalat (Islamic call to prayer) five times a day and to increase religious programming.[27]
Even before he became king, Faisal turned toIslam as a counterweight to Nasser'sArab socialism. The struggle between the two leaders became an Arab cold war, pitting the new Arabrepublics against the older Arab kingdoms.
The war of October 1973 was started by Egypt with the aim of avenging the humiliation of 1967 and restoring the lost legitimacy of the two states' ... [Egypt and Syria] emerged with a symbolic victory ... [but] the real victors in this war were the oil-exporting countries, above all Saudi Arabia. In addition to the embargo's political success, it reduced the world oil supply and sent the price per barrel soaring. In the aftermath of the war, the oil states abruptly found themselves with revenues gigantic enough to assure them a clear position of dominance within the Muslim world.
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