 EGYPT'S
INCOMPLETE REVOLUTION
Lutfi al-Khuli and Nasser's Socialism in the 1960s
Rami Ginat
This study charts the evolution of ideology in Nasser's regime from the inarticulate and inconsistent experiments of the early 1950s to the detailed and systematic formulations of
the 1960s. Simultaneously, it appraises the accommodation between official declarations and their practical implementation. The book explores the interrelationship between ideology
and statecraft and examines the concrete role which Arab Socialism played in the Nasirist state. The doctrine was highly derivative of foreign "nationalist" socialism -
imported from abroad by intellectuals and politicians, but adapted to local Egyptian conditions. The study also deals with Soviet ideological and strategic response to Egypt's
"socialist experiment" in the 1960s. The short-lived, but nonetheless formidable, success of Arab socialism owes much to the versatility of intellectuals, who served as
convecting rods between the ruling élite and the masses. The author has chosen to concentrate on Lutfi-al-Khuli - a leading member of the foremost intellectual circle associated
with the Nasirist regime - whose significant contribution has been neglected in the literature.
Ginat's well-documented study provides a first-rate
summary of the thoughts of Lutfi-al-Khuli...The chief merits of this book are
its analysis of Nasserite rethoric, to which al-Khuli was a
significant contributor, and its use of recently declassified American and
British diplomatic correspondence....
Choice
A useful guide to politics and ideology in
Nasser's day... Dr Ginat
has provided a serious, professional thesis with authoritative foundations.
Jerusalem
Post
The book's conclusion is well-written... It provides a
well-focused picture of the development of socialism in Egypt
and the role al-Khuli played therein.
The International Journal of
Middle East Studies
..Rami Ginat in his
book focuses on the role of Lutfi al-Khuli, a leading Marxist activist, in
post-revolutionary Egypt...through his interviews with al-Khuli and analysis
of his writings, [Ginat] is able to provide a fascinating perspective of
socialist development in Egypt under Nasser...[The book is] essential purchase
for any library collection on modern Egyptian history. [It] contributes much
to the understanding of the significance of the 1952 revolution and why Arab
Socialism was arguably an impossible dream..."
British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies
Rami Ginat is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Political Studies,
Bar-Ilan
University.
He has a Ph.D. Degree from the London School of Economics And Political
Science. Other works which he has authored include The
Soviet Union and Egypt,
1945-1955 (London,
1993) and Syria and the Doctrine of Arab
Neutralism: from Independence to Dependence (Brighton, 2005).
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240 pages
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1997
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0 7146 4738 1
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cloth
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£35.00/$47.50
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0 7146 4295 9
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paper
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£16.50/$22.50
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