[1] Fuad Pasha was a fervent supporter of keeping the empire an absolute monarchy, rejecting the ideas of being legally bounded or restricted by a constitution or legislature.

Fuad continued to study history, modern languages, international law, and political economics with the hope of rising to a diplomatic career.

[3] This changed, however, in 1848 when Fuad demonstrated his skills in his negotiations with Russian officials in Bucharest and St. Petersburg regarding refugees flooding into the Empire as a result of the 1848 revolutions in Europe.

While Mustafa Reşid had displayed a preference for Great Britain, Fuad and Mehmed Emin Aali were strong supporters of France.

Fuad hoped that the Tanzimat reforms would, “find salvation for the empire by creating among its peoples the bond of equal citizenship based on Ottoman nationality”.

The old Supreme Council, however, still remained an influential factor as its existence and functions, though de jure limited to judicial matters, caused much confusion.

These stemmed from “a shortage of trained bureaucrats and inadequacies in tax collection.”[3] Though reforms had been started by Resid in 1841, their initial success was interrupted by the outbreak of the Crimean War.

The main idea behind the Regulation was concentrating power back into the offices of the provincial governors and spreading the Tanzimat reforms across the entire Empire.

Due to his success at executing the changes of the Tanzimat program, Fuad was sent to Syria and arrived in Beirut on July 17, 1860, armed with extreme power granted to him by the Sultan.

He brought in a nationalistic viewpoint that these conflicts were “local sectarian characteristics that Ottoman reform ultimately would discipline.”[9] He was sent by Sultan Abdulmecid along with the new Western-style army to work with a newly established International Commission (Britain, France, Austria, Russia, and Prussia) to bring stability to the region.

Fuad began what some have called a “reign of terror”[9] in which he executed hundreds of the accused pillagers, arrested Druze leaders, and sentenced them to death after a trial in a military court for “failing to protect the Christians”.

[9] His rather strict reaction to the Mount Lebanon crisis reflected a push towards modernity and order throughout the Empire, as well as a growing sentiment of nationalism called Osmanlilik,[9] as demonstrated in a statement he gave to the people of Syria in 1861, announcing his return to Istanbul.

This strictness also reflects the Empire's immense desire to prove to its counterparts in Europe that it was fully capable of acting in accordance with modern law, especially considering the deployment of European troops to Syria in July 1860.

[3] Fuad was appointed to two full terms as Grand Vizier, though he resigned in 1866 because of his opposition to Abdülaziz's plan to marry Isma'il Pasha's (the Khedive of Egypt) daughter.

[3] Sultan Abdülaziz reappointed Fuad to his final term as foreign minister, due to French and British insistence during revolts in Crete and the threat of Russian intervention.

As Foreign Minister, he wrote a political testament with advice to the Sultan regarding an alliance with Great Britain and France based on shared interests and a common enemy of Russia.

Fuad demonstrated understanding of Russian expansion and confessed that, “I too would have turned the world upside-down to capture Istanbul.”[7] He called for the modernization of the Empire to gain legitimacy in France's eyes in order to strengthen these alliances against Russia.

While Mehmed Emin Aali was successfully ending the revolt, Fuad was acting Grand Vizier and Foreign Minister, and accompanied Sultan Abdülaziz on a trip through Europe in the summer of 1867.