Nasserism is an Arab nationalist political ideology based on the thinking of the former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser. It was a major influence on pan-Arab politics in the 1950s and 1960s, but slowly died away. It also metamorphosed into other nationalist movements during the 1970s. Nasser himself died in 1970. During his lifetime Nasserist groups were encouraged and often supported economically by like-minded factions in Egypt, and many were in effect reduced, sometimes willingly so, to what were seen as pro-regime puppets. Today, Nasserism still exists as a political force in many if not most Arab countries, but confined to minor opposition parties, writers and intellectuals. It is, ironically, stronger outside of Egypt than in the country.
Ideology
Nasserism is a revolutionary Arab nationalist and pan Arab ideology, combined with a vaguely defined socialism; often distinguished from Eastern block or Western socialist thought by the label "Arab Socialism". It is a secular ideology, which led to conflict with the emerging Muslim radicalism, and argued for modernization, industrialization and the abolishment of traditional society. It was vehemently opposed to colonialism, and argued extensively against Zionism in this context, perceiving Israel as a modern-day Western colony on Arab soil. In world politics, Nasser's Egypt played a major part in the Nonaligned movement.
Criticism
Nasserism operated in Egypt through a totalitarian one-party system, and the mixture of dictatorial methods and socialist-style land reform and other efforts to improve life for the poor, yet however opposing or ignoring Marxism and the concept of class struggle and fervent nationalism, has prompted some opponents to compare it to Fascism. Some present-day Nasserists generally embrace democracy, tend to stress the modernizing and secular strands of the ideology, and are generally more left-wing than Nasser himself.
The content of this page is retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasserism under GFDL
