Egypt in a Changing World by A K Pasha (Hardcover)

Description

Egypt’s involvement in the Palestine dispute was due to political, economic, strategic and other reasons. The 1952 Egyptian revolution was a great turning point in the region. Nasser realised the Israeli ambition in the area and in particular Zionist designs against Egypt. He presented the Israeli threat to Egypt as a threat to the entire Arab World. Nasser forcefully defended the Palestinian rights and helped create the PLO in 1964. This brought him into open confrontation with Israel and the West. Anwar Sadat broke the ‘no war no peace’ stalemate by the 1973 October war and soon enlisted US support in getting back Sinai. He believed that peace with Israel through US mediation would offer the prospect of enhanced security as well as return of lost territories. This led him to sign two disengagement agreements with Israel in 1974 and 1975. The 1977 food riots and his break with the USSR among other factors led him to visit Jerusalem in 1977 and conclude peace with Israel in 1978-79. In this penetrating and impeccably documented study, the author makes a systematic study of how Nasser, Sadat and Mubarak have confronted the threats from Israel to Egypt’s national security, how they responded not only to the challenges from Israel but also to the US, Soviet and Arab manoeuvrings. The book seeks to outline the far reaching changes in Egypt’s foreign policy towards Israel, US, USSR since 1967. The book also ‘attempts to make a systematic study of how the Egyptian peace offensive since 1973 exposed Israel’s game plans to retain captured Arab lands. These and many other issues have been discussed in an impassioned and penetrating analysis.