Arab Cold War
It is generally accepted that the beginning of the Arab Cold War is marked by the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, which led to Gamal Abdel Nasser becoming president of Egypt in 1956.
The Iranian Revolution of 1979, and the ascension of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as leader of Iran, is widely seen as the end of this period of internal conflicts and rivalry.
Following their independence the monarchies of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Morocco, as well as the Gulf states, formed an alliance to directly or indirectly counter Egyptian influence.
[2] Saudi Arabia and Jordan, previously rivals over the competing claims of their respective dynasties, worked closely together to support the royalist faction in the North Yemen Civil War.
The term "Arab Cold War" was first used by Malcolm H. Kerr, an American political scientist and Middle East scholar, in his 1965 book of the same name and subsequent editions.
The resolution of the North Yemen Civil War, although brokered by Nasser and King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, was a victory for the Egyptian-backed Yemeni Republicans.
In particular, Sadat sought to establish a close strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia under King Faisal, which was crucial to Egypt's success in the first part of the Yom Kippur War of 1973.
Building on these early successes, Sadat completely distanced himself from Nasserism by ending Egypt's strategic alliance with the Soviet Union and aligning himself instead with the United States.
Sadat's peace treaty not only alienated Nasserists and other secular Arab nationalists, but also enraged Islamists, who denounced him as an apostate[citation needed].
This established Shi'a Iran as a regional power committed to overthrowing the predominantly Sunni governments of Arab states, both republican and monarchical.
After the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War in the early 1980s, Egypt, still suspended from the Arab League, joined Saudi Arabia in supporting Sunni-led Iraq against Shi'ite Iran.
Led by Mohamed Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Free Officers implemented a program to transform Egypt by reducing feudalism, ending British influence and abolishing the monarchy and aristocracy.
[6] On 26 July 1956, Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal after Britain and the United States withdrew their offer to finance the construction of the Aswan Dam in response to Egypt's new relationship with the Soviet Union.
The League was effective in promoting conservative Wahhabi Islam and combating radical foreign ideologies, such as Arab socialism, in the Muslim world.
Egypt's military slogan "Land, Sea and Air" was replaced by the Islamic battle cry of Allahu Akbar in the perceived "shattering" defeat in the Yom Kippur War.
This gave the Arab oil-exporting states a dominant position within the Muslim world,[16] with Saudi Arabia by far the largest exporter (see bar chart above).
[16] In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood, which was supported by Saudi Arabia and had been suppressed by the Egyptian government, was allowed to publish a monthly magazine and its political prisoners were gradually released.
Years were chosen to show payment for before (1973) and after (1974) the October 1973 War , after the Iranian Revolution (1978-1979), and during the market turnaround in 1986. [ 12 ] Iran and Iraq are excluded because their revenue fluctuated due to the revolution and the war between them . [ 13 ]