Summary
Highlights
Arab nationalism began to gain momentum towards the end of World War I as the Ottoman Empire faced defeat. The British, capitalizing on anti-Ottoman sentiment, promised independence to Arab rebels if they allied against the Ottomans. However, these promises were broken, and the Sykes-Picot agreement secretly divided the region between Britain and France, leading to decades of colonial control.
For about two decades after WWI, the Middle East was controlled by Britain and France, with many states heavily linked to their colonial powers. The most significant event was the 1948 Nakba, where Zionist militias expelled over 800,000 Palestinians. The subsequent Arab-Israeli War was characterized by uncoordinated Arab efforts, with the Jordanian army, for example, having secret dealings with Zionists, leading to widespread rage and a period of political experimentation across the region.
The 1940s, 50s, and 60s saw a surge in political thought, organizing, and analysis, including Arab nationalism, Arab socialism, and liberation movements. In 1952, the Free Officers in Egypt, heavily influenced by Arab nationalism, overthrew King Farouk. Similar coups followed in Syria, Iraq, Sudan, and Libya. These movements believed that Western-drawn borders were a form of 'divide and rule' and envisioned reunification as a form of anti-imperialism.
Key branches of Arab nationalism included Nasserism, centered around Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, and Ba'athism, popular in Syria and Iraq. These movements were often supported by the Soviet Union and viewed the settler-colonial state of Israel as a primary obstacle to their project. The Suez Crisis of 1956, where Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal and Israel invaded Egypt (followed by Britain and France), ended in a victory for Nasser and boosted Arab nationalist projects.
The 1967 Arab-Israeli War proved to be a turning point, with devastating results for Arab nationalism. Tensions were high due to Palestinian attacks from Syria and troop buildups. Israel launched a premeditated strike, Operation Focus, destroying the joint Arab air forces on the ground. The war lasted only six days, with Israel occupying Gaza, the West Bank, the Syrian Golan Heights, and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula. This military defeat, known as the Naksa, and Nasser's subsequent death in 1970, marked the death knell for the pan-Arab nationalist project, leading leaders to focus on consolidating power within their own states.