Issue No. 596
Opinion
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25 - 31 July 2002 Issue No. 596 Opinion |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Past imperfect
Egypt is an old state to whose history the Mohamed Ali Dynasty made some positive contributions. Mohamed Ali was the founder of modern-day Egypt, Khedive Ismail tried to transform Egypt into part of Europe. Even King Fouad, passive and arrogant, tried to establish many scientific and educational institutes in the country while Farouk, whatever else he did, never betrayed the national cause of Egypt. There was a modicum of democracy in Egypt before 1952, though it co-existed with a semi-feudal society and the corruption of political life.The revolution had positive and negative aspects. Management of the Arab-Israeli conflict might have been more shrewd. There were many lost opportunities through lack of experience, and much sloganeering concocted for local and Arab consumption. It was cavalier with the nation's heritage, failing to protect the royal history of Egypt which was subjected to looting and destruction.
Egyptian-Sudanese relations were also negatively affected by the Naguib-Nasser conflict in 1953-54. Nasser felt that the Sudan issue was an asset for Naguib because of his Egyptian-Sudanese origins and therefore concentrated on the Eastern part of the Arab world, failing to pay enough attention to Sudan.
But to be fair, we must remember the revolution's achievements -- the High Dam, Egypt's role in the Non-Aligned Movement, its balanced social and economic policies. These are all positive aspects, to off-set such negatives as the lack of democracy, restricted political participation and limited individual freedoms.
* This week's soapbox speaker is chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the People's Assembly.
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