Political ideology founded by
Egyptian President
Gamal Abdel Nasser. The ideal was formulated after
Egypt's (and the
Arab Middle East in general) defeat to the
Israelis in
1956. Nasser felt he needed to consolidate his political base domestically (the Egyptian economy was in turmoil) and cause trouble for what he felt were more reactionary Arab governments such as
King Hussein's in
Jordan. Still licking his wounds,
Nasser thought the best way to do this was through
political rhetoric, rather than military action. The ideology itself was
socialist in nature with a hardy dose of
Arab nationalism and anti-
Zionism.
Source: Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East, by Michael B. Oren