Nationalism Without Nasser

...Moreover, it was there that the party succeeded in joining ranks with conservative elements to dissolve the United Arab Republic three-and-a-half years after its formation...

...This would not only quiet the mob, it would put the essentially political Aflakism out of reach of the military jaws of Nasserism...

...Despite all this, it would be wrong to assume that a clash between Nasserism and Aflakism is inevitable...

...For the safety of the national action calls for the participation by all of the popular forces in one single front, even before the issue is put to the masses...

...but they also know that, in the Middle East, the mob must be reckoned with...

...Ba'ath leaders recognize that acceding to Nasser's demands could result in their being completely swallowed up in the Egyptian ruler's design...

...The answer to this question can be heard in the streets of Baghdad and Damascus, where the rhythmic cries of the masses expressing love for Nasser are a sobering background to the deliberations of newly formed cabinets...

...Ba'ath officials, these observers claim, are trying to seize the initiative by presenting Nasser with prerequisites to unification that he cannot possibly accept...

...But to be properly understood today, Nasserism has to be seen more as a hospitable atmosphere than as the actual trigger for the three revolutions that have recently taken place in Yemen, Iraq and Syria...

...Some acute observers of the area even have gone so far as to assert that all the unity talks now going on are simply an attempt to put the onus of disunity on Cairo...

...When the talks fail, the argument continues, they can claim that he, not they, rejected all attempts at another merger...

...The Ba'ath party, in fact, is currently outlawed in Egypt...

...Perhaps most accurately described as "Aflakism," it represents the thinking of a previously littleknown 53-year-old, Sorbonne-educated Arab Christian who is the creator, co-president and ideological mentor of the Ba'ath (Reconstructionist) party—Michel Aflak...

...NEW 'ISM' IN THE MIDDLE EAST Nationalism Without Nasser By S. Peters Crediting Gamal Abdel Nasser for every flare-up in the Middle East has become as commonplace as attributing every outburst of violence in Latin America to Communist or Castroist subversion...

...Precisely how Aflakism differs from Nasse rism can be seen from an analysis of what the Ba'ath trinity of "Unity, Socialism, Freedom" means to the party, and what it means in Egypt where it has been appropriated as a slogan: Unity...

...Instead, they were bluntly told that the regime did not desire their presence, were not permitted to leave the airport, and were almost immediately forced to return to exile...

...Significantly, too, Nasser appears to be having his greatest difficulty with the new Syrian Premier, Salah el-Bitar, who is closely allied with Aflak...

...Freedom...

...Among Arab leaders, allegiances frequently shift as rapidly as the desert sands in a khamsin...

...Since the Ba'ath itself is a middleclass party, nationalization under its rule is likely to be a slow, progressive process...

...These have included a multi-party system, a popular plebiscite to ratify any mutually acceptable merger plan, and a threeman or rotating executive...

...The Egyptian ruler's position was stated in no uncertain terms by his close friend Hassanain Heikal, editor of the Government-owned newspaper Al-Ahram, on March 22: "It will not meet the case to put unity up to a full-scale, free, popular plebiscite...

...While there was comparatively little to nationalize in Egypt apart from large land-holdings and some foreign companies, this has been accomplished swiftly and completely...

...It also reflects the historic rivalry between Mesopotamia and the Land of the Nile, which extends back to the time of the Pharaohs and is rooted in the economic and geographic realities of the region, as well as the traditionally greater sophistication and intellectual depth of northern Arab movements...

...Recent events in Iraq and Syria indicate that the myth of the Egyptian ColoneFs omnipotence not only oversimplifies the facts but also ignores some fundamental developments in the Arab world...

...Nasserism has only one effective source of power—the military...

...Both Iraq and Syria have significant middle- and lower-middle classes, with capitalist systems that function fairly effectively although they consist largely of small businesses and not large, impersonal corporations...

...True, the Yemeni revolutionary regime owes its existence to the presence of 20,000 Egyptian soldiers and vast amounts of Sovietbuilt military equipment...

...Nasser's "Arab Socialism," on the other hand, is not much more than old-fashioned étatism, garnished with pan-Arabic slogans...

...For Ba'athists this implies moderate socialism, more akin to the idea of the welfare state than to the precepts of classical Marxism...

...Obviously, the present regime in Cairo continues to have considerable impact on the course of events, and its agents in Beirut expend great effort and even greater sums of money promoting subversion...

...All are vital to its continued existence as a political organization representing the middle classes, and to maintaining its position as an effective balance to the military...

...For Ba'athists this refers to freedom of speech, press, assembly and political parties...

...Given these basic and wide divergences of fundamental philosophy, why all the meetings in Cairo aimed at once more linking Egypt, Syria and Iraq...

...Drawing neat charts which show how many "pro-Nasserists," "neutralists" or "rightist nationalists" are in each new revolutionary government or military junta is at best misleading...

...Socialism...

...Yet the revolt itself was started by domestic forces and, in a sense, it is the very presence of a large Egyptian contingent in Yemen that prevents a "domestic" solution of the struggle between the revolutionaries and the Royalists...

...In addition, Nasser has already been placed in the position of having to reject several proposals for federation made by the new Syrian and Iraqi leaders...

...Nasserism, in contrast, has interpreted the term as the rule of one allpowerful leader, dependent on one national army, in one country...

...S. Peters, who here makes his first appearance in these pages, is a freelance writer specializing in Middle Eastern affairs...

...Thus, the idea of Arab unity is not merely an ideological concept, but a practical approach to day-today politics, to be employed by the Ba'ath's considerable following in several of the Arab countries...

...Indeed, trying to assess political developments in the Middle East in terms of "liberals" or "moderates" versus "leftists" or "extremists" is an extremely dubious exercise...

...On the contrary, it is far more likely that some sort of modus vivendi will be worked out between the two camps, and that the pluralism of Arab nationalism will become an increasingly important factor in determining future political developments in the Middle East...

...Evidence to support this view is not difficult to find: Shortly after the new Government took over in Damascus, a group of Syrian leaders who had opposed the United Arab Republic break-up and sought refuge in Egypt, flew home expecting to receive a cordial reception...

...This is particularly true now when, despite press reports of "proNasser" coups in Damascus and Baghdad, a long-suppressed second center of Arab nationalism actually has achieved power in both capitals...

...Syria, it should be remembered, is where the Ba'ath was founded during World War II...

...For Ba'athists the term signifies genuine unity of the Arab nation, which is to emerge naturally from the will of equal partners...

...While past allegiances of the military men and politicians who enter and leave the revolutionary spotlight are often well known, such identifications generally have only temporary significance...