Egyptian Politics under Sadat: The Post-Populist Development of an Authoritarian-Modernizing State

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0521267269

Anwar Sadat presided over a remarkable transformation in the Egypt built by Nasir: economic liberalisation superseded populist revolution from above, a Western alliance replaced Nasir's challenge to Western power in the Arab world and an authoritarian state was adapted to growing pluralist pressures. This book explains the forces which produced this change: the vulnerabilities of the Nasir regime and Sadat's leadership. It also analyses the 'post-popuhst' political order forged by Sadat, concluding that the state underwent both a retraditionalisation and limited liberalisation while retaining its authoritarian essence. Sadat's policies ended in peace and a burst of prosperity for some, but at the cost of growing inequality and dependency. This book is of interest as a study of political change and the clash of competing strategies of development in today's Third World. Because the system Sadat built remains intact under Mubarak, it is also a guide to the workings of the contemporary Egyptian political system.