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  • Cairo: The world outside

    Al-Ahram Weekly, Egypt
    May 26 2006

    The world outside
    Egypt's varying degrees of historical independence reflected on its
    foreign policy, writes Professor Yunan Labib Rizk



    A great deal of information was put forth in previous issues of the
    Diwan about the nature of Egyptian foreign relations in the
    contemporary period. Among this was the fact that after Egypt fell
    under Ottoman rule in 1517 and lost its independence, it no longer
    had political representatives in other countries. Moreover, the
    representatives of states, particularly European, within Egypt were
    limited to a number of consuls concerned with the affairs of their
    citizens and economic matters. Their meetings with Egypt's pasha took
    place in the presence of a high-ranking official called the "pash-
    turgoman", or chief translator, who was assisted by a number of
    translators who were proficient in several European languages and who
    were often Armenian.

    With the establishment of the modern state at the hands of Egypt's
    remarkable governor Mohamed Ali Pasha and Egypt's economic and
    political debut in dealing with Europe, the pash-turgomans and their
    assistants disappeared, to be replaced by a new administration. This
    formed one unit among the seven departments Mohamed Ali established
    and was called the Department of Commerce and Foreign Affairs. Its
    specialisations varied in keeping with the state's needs. Mohamed Ali
    continued to depend on Armenians to head this department, the most
    famous of whom was Bughus Youssefian. Yet because Egypt remained
    subordinate to the Ottomans, the pasha was not allowed to send
    political representatives abroad. Thus Mohamed Ali sufficed with
    sending deputies to states such as Britain, France and Italy that
    Egyptian interests required representation in.

    During the era of Ismail (1863-1879), this department's name was
    changed to the Ministry of Foreign affairs, which soon became a unit
    within the cabinet that was established one year prior to the famed
    khedive's ousting. For the first time, Egyptians held the post of
    foreign minister, and while the Armenian Noubar Pasha held the post
    during that period (five years), the Egyptian Boutros Ghali Pasha
    held it for much longer (16 years) during the ensuing period.

    This ministry continued to form one of the most important
    institutions in the Egyptian political system until the announcement
    in 1914 of the British protectorate over Egypt. The two foundations
    upon which this system was established were that the protecting state
    would assume responsibility of foreign relations and that it would
    undertake administration of the military forces. This ministry was
    dissolved following the declaration of the protectorate and replaced
    with a department affiliated to the British high commissioner's
    headquarters, a fact that was a significant source of Egyptian anger.

    The Foreign Ministry was re-established by the 28 February 1922
    declaration that legally granted Egypt independence. Its
    subordination to Al-Dubara Palace was cut, but instead of
    transferring actual subordination to the cabinet as should have taken
    place, it remained more closely affiliated to Abdin Palace, a
    situation that King Fouad was most keen on maintaining.

    Although the 1923 constitution deemed that the Ministry of Foreign
    Affairs be included among the ministries, the opinion of Abdin Palace
    following the establishment of partisan governments as authorised by
    the constitution was to distance ministries from government
    supervision so that they would not suffer from partisan struggles.
    The palace would thus retain its control of them, including the
    Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the armed forces, and religious affairs
    as run by Al-Azhar Mosque and the religious endowments.

    Concerning the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, most of the royal
    appointment edicts for the new diplomatic corps were issued during
    the terms of governments loyal to the king, not during the terms of
    the Wafdist governments, which refused, whether in the time of Saad
    Zaghloul or Mustafa El-Nahhas, to concede any of their powers to His
    Majesty. It can thus be said that the periods of this ministry's
    animation always took place during the terms of minority or royal
    governments.

    The close relationship between the Foreign Ministry and Abdin Palace
    is indicated by the fact that most of the royal cabinet's cadre came
    from this ministry. In turn, when political circumstances required
    the ousting of a palace official, he was often placed in the Foreign
    Ministry. This occurred with Hassan Nashaat Pasha and Zaki El-Ibrashi
    Pasha, and it also took place during the reign of King Farouk. The
    most famed of the palace's men came from this institution -- Ahmed
    Hassanein Pasha, Hafiz Afifi Pasha, and Hassan Youssef Pasha. And it
    is a custom followed until this day, for the spokesman of the
    republic's president is always chosen from among Egypt's diplomatic
    corps. Moreover, advisors close to the president, the most famous of
    whom are Osama El-Baz and Mustafa El-Fiqi, who held the post of the
    president's press secretary for a short period, are also diplomats.
    This confirms that it is an "old-new" relationship.

    But let us return to the historical developments of Egypt's foreign
    relations. The 1936 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty left a deep mark on them,
    for on the one hand they rejected any British tutelage by raising the
    level of diplomatic exchange with Egypt to the rank of ambassador
    despite this move being incomplete as is made clear below. On the
    other hand, it paved the way for Egypt joining the League of Nations
    the following year after the capitulations were annulled at the
    Montreaux Convention. This freed the Wafd government's hand, if to a
    relative degree, in foreign relations, a fact that was not a source
    of satisfaction for Abdin Palace, whose lord, Fouad I, had in the
    meantime passed away. His son succeeded him, and did away with
    El-Nahhas Pasha a few short months after assuming his constitutional
    powers. Following the formation of the Mohamed Mahmoud government in
    early 1938, it seemed as though the issue of foreign relations had
    become its primary preoccupation, a product of its desire to turn
    Egyptians' attention abroad, away from domestic tensions.

    ONLY A FEW SHORT WEEKS had passed following the formation of the
    government of Mohamed Mahmoud Pasha when foreign relations became its
    primary preoccupation.

    Al-Ahram recorded the changes that took place in these relations in
    its editorial of 12 March 1938 titled "Egypt's position among
    nations". It stated that following Egypt's alliance with Britain and
    the cancellation of the capitulations, "it has taken possession of
    its own affairs as all independent states do. The states with which
    we are connected via mutually shared interests feel nothing but
    friendship and goodwill towards us." It offered as evidence the
    successive visits undertaken by various states' politicians and
    ministers, including the French minister of education, who inspected
    the country's scientific institutes and praised them upon his return
    home, and Monsieur Pietre, the head of the Franco- Egyptian
    Association, "which works to strengthen the ties of friendship
    between the two countries." It also noted the friendly reception
    given to the members of the Egyptian delegation to the medical
    conference held in Baghdad. Al-Ahram concluded by drawing attention
    to the connotations of this all, and quoted the prime minister as
    saying, "Our international position during the current period
    requires from us the greatest alertness and awareness."

    A few days later it published an exclusive interview that Mohamed
    Mahmoud Pasha had given to the British newspaper the Daily Mail. In
    it, he defined Egypt's foreign policy as defending the sovereignty it
    had recently won, including the continued flow of water from Lake
    Tana and the sources of the Nile, and safeguarding the status quo of
    the Suez Canal. He lauded "Egypt's geographic importance" in that it
    is "the Western portal leading to the East and the ancient key to
    Africa. Its land is the most fertile on Earth, and we have attempted
    to mix the best of culture in the West with the most noble of
    traditions in the East. This is a mixture that will last and whose
    ties will hold firm."

    This lovely remark was put to the test of experience following the
    clouding atmosphere of international relations that autumn (1938)
    during the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia. It appears that Egypt's
    representatives abroad were not up to par with the crisis. Al-Ahram
    wrote that the reports received by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
    were inadequate, lacked a detailed conception of the situation, and
    some contained information that had already been published by
    newspapers. Al-Ahram wrote that this experience offered an
    opportunity for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to learn the weak
    points of its diplomatic corps, and it stressed Egypt's unique
    geographical position and the fact that its international future
    depended on the aptitude of its representatives abroad. "The current
    political crisis is a good opportunity to meet this goal."

    On this matter, Al-Ahram learnt from foreign representatives,
    foremost the British ambassador in the Egyptian capital, of their
    disregard of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and direct contact with
    the prime minister. "Some of them meet some of the other ministers
    and top officials without the mediation of the minister of foreign
    affairs or seeking his permission as international convention
    requires in other countries. This fact was recorded by the foreign
    affairs committee in the senate in its report on the foreign affairs
    budget: "It is necessary to point out the convention on which our
    political traditions in Egypt are based. Ministers plenipotentiary in
    Egypt have grown accustomed to taking recourse to the prime minister
    regarding most affairs, while their reference should naturally be the
    minister of foreign affairs."

    Once again, Al-Ahram stressed the necessity of the Ministry of
    Foreign Affairs exhibiting its interest and drawing the people into
    following the developments of the current crisis so that a mature
    public opinion could be formed that would have specific orientations
    for foreign policy "just as occurred with domestic policy".

    The government at that time soon turned this into a fact. It began to
    hold a series of meetings to study the effect of foreign policy
    developments on the country. Instructions were issued from the
    Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Egypt's representatives in Europe
    requesting communication with it on the current crisis. Coded
    telegrams began to pour into Cairo, bearing the developments and
    incidents they witnessed.

    Al-Ahram commented on this interest by saying that the crisis
    developments warned of British involvement in the war and the
    possibility of Italy entering into it in addition to Germany. "If
    this happens, and it is not unlikely, Egypt will have commitments it
    must uphold with its ally Britain on the one hand, and there will be
    danger threatening Egypt's Western borders on the other."

    It seems that the global crisis grew more complicated still with the
    appearance of Japanese intentions. Japan had previously been keen to
    stay distanced from European conflicts, but the new Japanese
    intentions were made clear by Japan's ambassador in Berlin:
    "Britain's dominion in the Far East has ended forever. The new China
    will become Manchurian again, for it is establishing several
    independent governments in the manner of the United States of America
    and allying with Japan, who administrates its political and military
    relations."

    This led Al-Ahram to comment that this meant tightening relations
    between the Tokyo government and the Rome- Berlin axis, a fact that
    warned of excessive danger. "It is incumbent upon Egyptian
    politicians in these circumstances to end partisan animosity and call
    on all children of the nation to unite so that the country can
    address its foreign policy position with the wisdom and careful
    consideration it requires."

    Yet this call was not answered as wished for by Wafd Party circles.
    The party's mouthpiece, Al-Wafd Al-Misri, commented that Egypt had
    grown to follow British policy. "It is being led this time to
    agreement as it was led previous times to dissension. Our sole role
    is to follow England in signing onto an international agreement on
    matters that vitally affect us."

    There is no doubt that these developments breathed life into the
    government departments and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which
    began to leaf through its old papers. Among the news that leaked out
    on this was the undertaking of a review of the international treaties
    Egypt had signed that were related to states of war and international
    conduct during times of war. The most significant of the treaties the
    Cairo government had signed was the treaty on prisoners of war and
    one that stipulated that submarines not attack commercial ships, as
    well as the treaty on improving the status of ill persons and those
    injured in combat.

    Yet from another perspective, some newspapers wanted to exit the
    crisis by drawing a picture of foreign policy that Egypt should
    follow in all cases, what they described as "positive policy".
    Unusually, Al-Muqattam, which was known for its loyalty to Britain,
    call for this in three successive articles. In its first article,
    Al-Muqattam tried to answer a question it posed -- "What positive
    policies does Egypt choose?" It responded by saying that Egypt was
    preparing means of defence to ward off the danger of war and its
    disastrous consequences. "With this policy, the government has
    received public support because Egyptians refuse for their country to
    be a target of this danger when it has barely begun to enjoy the
    blessing of its independence. If we follow the policy of giving in to
    reality on the basis of nothing better being possible, then we will
    be subject to the same consequences of overlooking policy related to
    national defence."

    In the second article, Al-Muqattam drew attention to the issue of the
    Nile sources that Italy had taken control of in Ethiopia and the
    issue of the Suez Canal, which Italy was also turning to. It held
    that the government should prove that Egypt was an independent and
    sovereign state with dominion over its territory. This orientation
    was supported, according to the paper, by the fact that the countries
    of the east had their eyes on Egypt and that Arab states considered
    it their elder.

    Starting from that early time, Al-Muqattam drew attention to Egypt's
    possession of factors that allowed it to follow positive foreign
    policies. This orientation was strengthened following WWII,
    particularly in the period following the Wafd government (1950-1952).
    This became a declared policy during the Nasser period, placing this
    approach in the category of old-new policies.

    Yet Al-Muqattam did not suffice with proposing this idea, rather
    clarifying it in its third and final article. It held that pursuing
    this policy required dependence on a strong economic base, something
    that could not be actualised without a tight irrigation system and
    the combating of pests that assailed the cotton crops. This was a
    toilsome task, "but if we consider that done by others among those we
    imitate, then it is clear that there is no escape from taking on this
    serious work, especially as we live in a world that is floating, and
    what all peoples need the most is the factor of stability."

    As matters escalated in this direction, it was natural that interest
    was given to improving Egypt's political representation abroad. The
    Anglo-Egyptian Treaty's provisions for raising the rank of Egypt's
    representative in London to that of ambassador was supposed to have
    been followed by raising all the remaining ministers plenipotentiary
    to the same rank. The Mohamed Mahmoud government did not do this,
    however, a fact pointed out by a parliamentary representative who
    expressed his conviction that establishing an Egyptian embassy in
    Turkey would not conflict with the treaty's provisions, particularly
    after Turkey had signed "the two charters of the Balkan alliance and
    the eastern alliance."

    This led Abdallah Hussein, a lawyer and writer in Al-Ahram, to stress
    that the treaty did not bar Egypt from establishing embassies in
    other countries. "As long as that is the case, it is possible for our
    government to begin thinking about promoting some of our large
    legations to embassies so as to close all doors of interpretation on
    issues that affect our foreign command and attempt to limit it,
    particularly since we now have a diplomatic corps and men qualified
    to be ambassadors."

    IT WAS NATURAL for the Egyptian government to respond to these
    raising voices within and beyond parliament. This fact is made clear
    by a collection of various related news items that can be followed in
    Al-Ahram over a lengthy period.

    Some of this news was about Egypt joining the eastern alliance
    through what was known as the Saadabad charter, which was signed
    between Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, and that Rushdi Aras, the
    Turkish foreign minister, was on his way to Cairo to negotiate on
    this matter.

    The Turkish minister indeed arrived in the Egyptian capital and an
    Al-Ahram reporter rushed to learn definite news on this issue. He
    confirmed that the Turkish government had made an offer and that it
    was being discussed with top officials in the Egyptian Ministry of
    Foreign Affairs. Abdel-Fattah Yehia Pasha was to present the Turkish
    minister's opinion to the cabinet.

    Al-Ahram added that Aras would return within a month to complete the
    documents related to the treaty of friendship and goodwill the
    minister plenipotentiary had signed in Ankara. At that time,
    negotiations would begin on Egypt signing onto the eastern alliance
    charter. Yet Al-Ahram did not make reference to the issue again from
    near or afar.

    Confidential British documents, in contrast, indicate that the
    British embassy headquarters intervened to prevent the Egyptian
    government from advancing far in this matter, on the basis that
    Egypt's obligations through joining the alliance conflicted with the
    stipulations of the treaty of alliance and friendship with London's
    government. At this point, Mohamed Mahmoud's government halted its
    impermissible talk.

    Following that, Egyptian policy was transformed into a role of
    leadership in the Islamic world. Information on this can be gleaned
    from European newspapers including the English Daily Telegraph.

    The Daily Telegraph presented an entire design of Egyptian officials'
    thought on this matter, stressing that Egypt's religious standing
    allowed it to hold a special place in the Islamic world. The design,
    according to the newspaper's characterisation, had ripened in the
    minds of experienced and trusted men, and was based on a number of
    points. The most important of these were that the king would become
    the head of the caliphate and the acknowledged leader of the Islamic
    nations whose borders fell on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and
    which controlled major sea and air routes between the East and West,
    and that Egyptian princesses would marry Arab princes and kings.

    A French newspaper confirmed that there was movement towards Egypt
    occupying the role of leadership in the Islamic world. Its
    correspondent in Cairo, Maurice Berneaux, drew attention to the fact
    that during its term the El-Nahhas government had declined signing
    onto the eastern charter and had exhibited solidarity with the Arabs
    of Palestine. "Supporters of Islamic politics view that Egypt, which
    is today at the forefront of Islamic states, must follow policy in
    conformity with the public interest of Islam. They even make
    reference to re- establishing the caliphate and granting its
    authority to King Farouk."

    The paper closed by saying, "Egypt must not forget that 17 caliphs
    succeeded each other in Cairo over two centuries of time, and that
    the heart of Islam continues to beat in Al-Azhar University. The
    feelings that will throb in the chest of King Farouk if he assumes
    the caliphate will be that he is returning to Egypt the distinction
    it was stripped of with the Turkish conquest. This theory has had a
    strong effect on the heart of the young king since Egypt has regained
    its independence and its feelings of the homeland's glory and
    greatness have increased."

    A surprising fact of that long-ago era is Egypt's interest in playing
    a role in the African continent despite most of it being under
    European colonial control at the time. An Al-Ahram editorial titled
    "Egypt between Africa and Europe" mentioned in its opening that all
    of the African nations turned their eyes towards Egypt. It
    ascertained that Egypt's future depended on that of the Nile Valley,
    and that "Egypt's success is also based on its success."

    On this issue, Al-Ahram made a comparison between Africa during WWI
    and the world war whose threat had begun to appear on the horizon. It
    noted that the battles of the first had all taken place in Europe,
    while the imminent war "is expected to be of paramount importance.
    Italy has occupied Ethiopia despite the resolutions of the League of
    Nations and the position of Britain, and the nationalist Spaniards
    are seeking the aid of Moroccans from the countryside in their war
    against Madrid. Italy has taken care to fortify Libya, and turned it
    into an arena for military practice and manoeuvres. Recently, Germany
    has risen up and demanded African colonies. As such, Egypt cannot
    afford to close its eyes to what is taking place before it with
    regard to the African continent."

    Egyptian interest in the African continent was highlighted in the
    London Sunday Times in an article titled "Shared interests between
    Egypt and South Africa." It stated that South Africa had undertaken
    leadership of the countries in central and southern areas of the
    continent. "Yet the next step, in which our security is concerned, is
    for measures to be taken to distribute the scope of our influence to
    the shores of the Mediterranean and the banks of the Suez Canal."

    As the new system of governance in Egypt was concerned with
    organising a modern army, and there was no doubt that the Egyptian
    government and South Africa had some shared interests, particularly
    in the security of the Suez Canal, it was possible for any
    discussions between the two parties to have led to far-reaching
    consequences affecting them both.

    With this outline of all these policies, it is possible to see that
    at that early period near the end of the 1930s, Egyptians had already
    become aware of their position that made them a central link not only
    in the Arab world but also the eastern and Islamic world and the
    African continent. They turned to this fact even more following WWII,
    and it was soon turned into a planned policy during the Nasser era
    for the areas surrounding Egypt. Yet it seems that the principles of
    foreign policies discussed by Egyptians at that time have remained
    constant despite the succession of generations, for the realities of
    geography have always made them old-new.

    http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/796/chrn cls.htm
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