SOAS Research Online

A Free Database of the Latest Research by SOAS Academics and PhD Students

[skip to content]

Abou-El-Fadl, Reem (2018) Foreign Policy as Nation Making: Turkey and Egypt in the Cold War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Global Middle East)

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

After the Second World War, Turkey and Egypt were among the most dynamic actors in the Middle East. Their 1950s foreign policies presented a puzzle, however: Turkey's Democrat Party pursued NATO membership and sponsored the pro-Western Baghdad Pact regionally, while Egypt's Free Officers promoted neutralism and pan-Arab alliances. This book asks why: what explains this divergence in a shared historical space? Rethinking foreign policy as an important site for the realisation of nationalist commitments, Abou-El-Fadl finds the answer in the contrasting nation making projects pursued by the two leaderships, each politicised differently through experiences of war, imperialism and underdevelopment. Drawing on untapped Turkish and Arabic sources, and critically engaging with theories of postcolonial nationalism, she emphasises local actors' agency in striving to secure national belonging, sovereignty and progress in the international field. Her analysis sheds light on the contemporary legacies of the decade which cemented Turkey's position in the Western Bloc and Egypt's reputation as Arab leader.

Item Type: Authored Books
Keywords: Politics and International Relations, Area Studies, International Relations and International Organisations, Middle East History, Middle East Government,Politics and Policy, Middle East Studies
SOAS Departments & Centres: Departments and Subunits > Department of Politics & International Studies
ISBN: 9781108475044
DOI (Digital Object Identifier): https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108566025
Date Deposited: 20 Dec 2018 10:43
URI: https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/30088
Funders: Other

Altmetric Data

Statistics

Download activity - last 12 monthsShow export options
Downloads since deposit
6 month trend
0Downloads
6 month trend
359Hits
Accesses by country - last 12 monthsShow export options
Accesses by referrer - last 12 monthsShow export options

Repository staff only

Edit Item Edit Item