Does the Arab world need leadership? Amr El Shobaki

Although the Arab world leadership debate has been going on for decades, no country has been able to fulfill the same pioneering / leadership role that Egypt played in the 1950s and 1960s with the overwhelming support of the majority of Arab peoples.
It is true that this role has been the subject of criticism and reviews inside and outside Egypt, and half a century after Nasser’s departure, the question has become not only about the nature of this role and the extent of success and the degree of failure, but on the extent to which Arabs need leadership, and if the answer is yes, do they need leadership, what is the concept of this leadership and how can we define it in light of the new challenges that differed from challenges of the era of colonialism and national liberation.

From leadership role to leadership
Egypt’s leadership in the Arab world in the middle of the last century was linked to two factors: the first is its pioneering role in the modernization process and Muhammad Ali’s establishment of the modern nation state in 1805 and the beginning of his experience semi-liberal after his inspiring revolutions (1919), as well as his cultural role and his ability to integrate immigrants from most countries in the region, which enriched his society.His universities were centers of scientific influence and irradiation of civilization in the region, and many of its leaders and political and scientific elites have graduated. Its journalism has played a pioneering role in the region and has been one of its flexible tools.
Then came the July Revolution and Abdel Nasser’s leadership developed and activated this pioneering role, and put the stock of Egyptian modernization in the form of Arab liberation with which it led the Arab nation for independence and national liberation.
It would be unfair to reduce Nasser’s experience of defeat in 67 to his cruelty, as pointed out by Dr. Abdel Khaleq Abdullah in his clear article on Al-Shorouk.
Morally and politically speaking, Egypt’s right to nationalize the Suez Canal and its refusal to face the coup against unity in Syria cannot be compared to military strength with the late president’s invasion of Kuwait. Saddam Hussein, on the pretext that both countries raised national slogans.
It can be said that the Egyptian leadership of the Arab regime (despite the mistakes and defeat) was the result of two factors: its cultural and cultural heritage and its leadership of a real project, which is national liberation and independence . This project was a priority for all Arab countries and their people’s struggles, with the exception of the Gulf Arab states that did not know of a foreign occupation, although many were impressed. Let’s toast with the speech on national liberation and its support for its just struggles, such as Saudi official and popular support for Egypt in the face of tripartite aggression.
What is certain is that the Arab world has turned the page of national liberation and entered a new era, and Egypt, which led this phase, has also entered a new phase even after signing the agreement of Camp David with Israel in 1979, and this era has imposed new challenges that have made us redefine what is meant by leadership.

Do we need leadership?

The Arab world has turned the page of national liberation, and its occupied countries have gained their independence and entered the challenge of economic and political development, which has failed in some respects and succeeded in others, and the balance of power. it changed with the abundance of oil.
It is true that the Arab Gulf countries have invested these riches better than countries like Libya or Iraq (a development whose influence has been lost due to wars and military adventures has occurred), established universities and research centers. , has developed its administrative apparatus and has built a country like the United Arab Emirates a rule of law even if democracy is absent because, as many see, there is no question of politics and parties in a country that has achieved the economic abundance and built a rule of law.
The truth is that Egypt’s external role and its abandonment of the idea of ​​leading the Arab nation is due to a number of reasons, most notably the Camp David philosophy, which accepted the idea of ​​restoring the occupied Egyptian lands. in exchange for abandoning the solution to the Palestinian question or not considering it a condition for accepting the Egyptian-Israeli settlement, then came the economic crisis and its failure. Build a stimulating model of restraint for the Arab region that achieves success in economic development and political reform.
It is true that Egypt has not collapsed economically in recent decades, but it has not achieved a breakthrough to compare it with countries like Malaysia or South Korea and others. It is also true that he did not know in his entire republican reign a “supra-authoritarian” system similar to what happened in Iraq, Syria and Libya, but at the same time he did not know. Adopt a democratic model and a rule of law.
It is certain that the Arab states of the Gulf have provided a model of economic abundance and financial aid to Arab countries, as well as the experience of considerable administrative efficiency in a country like the Arab Emirates, which is fine in the rest of the Gulf countries. but up to now they have not presented a political formula that can be considered an inspiring model for the Arab world.
The Arab world will still need leadership that is not in the sense of a state compelling others to follow its knights, interfere in their affairs and conspire against their systems of government, but rather it is the most influential country in its surroundings. building a political and economic model that inspires the peoples of the region without forcing anyone to follow it. This inspiring model can not only be based on economic abundance and financial wealth, however important it may be, but it must also be based on a political model based on a solid rule of law that achieves political development and opens the horizon of democratic transition and address poverty and cultural backwardness.

Expert at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies