PAN-ARABISM

Pan-Arabism is an ideological concept that first appeared between the late 19th century and early 20th century, this was due to the increased literacy amongst Arabs, which led to what is known as the ‘Nadah’, a form of cultural and literary renaissance. The aim of Pan-Arabism being the forming of a political and cultural unification between the Arab States².

The Pan-Arabism movement caused much political unrest, which eventually initiated the seeking of independence of the majority of Arab states from the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century and European colonialism by the middle of the century³.

The forming of the Ba’th Party by Pan-Arabists, Salah al-Din Bitar and Michel Aflaq in 1943 was a very significant event, which led to the party becoming the governing body in Iraq and Syria. Also, the establishment of the Arab League in 1945, was an important development in the cause⁴.

The charismatic Egyptian President, Gamal Abdel Nasser was a great proponent of Pan-Arabism, and during his time in office the concept reached its height in cultural and political bearing. However, following his death in 1970, there was a decline in the following of Pan-Arabism⁶. This decline was in part due to its inclination towards Arab unity and ideology, but not those of Islam, and also the cultural, religious and factional differences between the various Arab states. During the late 1980’s, Islamist and nationalist beliefs began to overshadow Pan-Arabism, leading to the emergence of Pan-Islamism as the new ideology⁶.