Sadat and Cold War Influences

33.5.5: Sadat and Cold War Influences

The presidency of Anwar Sadat saw many changes in Egyptian politics and policy: breaking with Soviet Union to make Egypt an ally of the United States, initiating the peace process with Israel, reinstituting the multi-party system, and abandoning socialism by launching the Infitah economic policy.

Learning Objective

Discuss the ways in which the Cold War affected Sadat’s time in power

Key Points

  • In 1970 President Nasser died and was succeeded by Anwar Sadat, another officer in the “Free Officers” movement that instigated the 1952 Revolution.
  • Sadat switched Egypt’s Cold War allegiance from the Soviet Union to the United States, expelling Soviet advisors in 1972.
  • In 1973, Egypt and Syria launched the October War, a surprise attack against the Israeli forces occupying the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights, in an attempt to regain part of the Sinai territory that Israel had captured six years earlier.
  • The conflict sparked an international crisis between the U.S. and the USSR, both of whom intervened, and while the war ended with a military stalemate, it presented Sadat with a political victory that later allowed him to regain the Sinai in return for peace with Israel.
  • Sadat made a historic visit to Israel in 1977, which led to the 1979 peace treaty in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from Sinai.
  • Sadat launched the Infitah economic reform policy, creating a “open door” for foreign investment while clamping down on religious and secular opposition.
  • On October 6, 1981, Sadat and six diplomats were assassinated while observing a military parade commemorating the eighth anniversary of the October 1973 War.

Key Terms

Anwar Sadat
The third President of Egypt, serving from October 15, 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on October 6, 1981. He was a senior member of the Free Officers who overthrew King Farouk in the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and a close confidant of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, under whom he served as Vice President twice and whom he succeeded as President in 1970.
infitah
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s economic policy of “opening the door” to private investment in Egypt in the years following the 1973 October War (Yom Kippur War) with Israel. It was accompanied by a break with longtime ally and aid-giver the USSR — replaced by the United States — and by a peace process with Israel symbolized by Sadat’s dramatic flight to Jerusalem in 1977.
détente
The term is often used in reference to the general easing of the geopolitical tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States which began in 1969 as a foreign policy of U.S. presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford; a “thawing out” or “un-freezing” at a period roughly in the middle of the Cold War.

Overview

The Sadat era in Egypt refers to the presidency of Anwar Sadat, the 11-year period of Egyptian history spanning from the death of president Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1970 through Sadat’s assassination by fundamentalist army officers on October 6, 1981. Sadat’s presidency saw many changes in Egypt’s direction, reversing some of the economic and political principles of Nasserism by breaking with Soviet Union to make Egypt an ally of the United States, initiating the peace process with Israel, reinstituting the multi-party system, and abandoning socialism by launching the Infitah economic policy.

The October War of 1973 a began when the coalition launched a joint surprise attack on Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, which occurred that year during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Egyptian and Syrian forces crossed ceasefire lines to enter the Israeli-held Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights respectively. After Israel lost the defensive war, Egypt and Israel came together for negotiations with Israel, culminating in the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty in which Israel traded the Sinai to Egypt for peace. This led to Egypt’s estrangement from most other Arab countries and Sadat’s assassination several years later.

Photo of Anwar Sadat, third President of Egypt

Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat: Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat was the third President of Egypt, serving from October 15, 1970, until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on October 6, 1981.

Early Years

After Nasser’s death, another of the original revolutionary “free officers,” Vice President Anwar el-Sadat, was elected President of Egypt. Nasser’s supporters in government settled on Sadat as a transitional figure who they believed could be manipulated easily. However, Sadat had a long term in office and many changes in mind for Egypt, and by astute political moves was able to institute a “corrective revolution,” (announced on May 15, 1971) which purged the government, political, and security establishments of the most ardent Nasserists. Sadat encouraged the emergence of an Islamist movement which had been suppressed by Nasser. Believing Islamists to be socially conservative, he gave them “considerable cultural and ideological autonomy” in exchange for political support.

Following the disastrous Six-Day War of 1967, Egypt waged a War of Attrition in the Suez Canal zone. In 1971, Sadat endorsed in a letter the peace proposals of UN negotiator Gunnar Jarring, which seemed to lead to a full peace with Israel on the basis of Israel’s withdrawal to its prewar borders. This peace initiative failed as neither Israel nor the U.S. accepted the terms as discussed.

To provide Israel with more incentive to negotiate with Egypt and return the Sinai, and because the Soviets had refused Sadat’s requests for more military support, Sadat expelled the Soviet military advisers from Egypt and proceeded to bolster his army for a renewed confrontation with Israel.

1973 October War (Yom Kippur War)

In 1971, Sadat concluded a treaty of friendship with the Soviet Union, but a year later ordered Soviet advisers to leave. Soviets were engaged in détente with the United States and discouraged Egypt from attacking Israel. Despite this discouragement, rumors of imminent Soviet intervention on the Egyptians’ behalf during the 1973 Yom Kippur War brought about a massive American mobilization that threatened to wreck détente. Sadat favored another war with Israel in hopes of regaining the Sinai peninsula and reviving a country demoralized from the 1967 war. He hoped that at least a limited victory over the Israelis would alter the status quo. In the months before the war, Sadat engaged in a diplomatic offensive and by the fall of 1973 had support for a war of more than a hundred states, including most of the countries of the Arab League, Non-Aligned Movement, and Organization of African Unity. Syria agreed to join Egypt in attacking Israel.

Egypt’s armed forces achieved initial success in the crossing and advanced 15 km, reaching the depth of the range of safe coverage of its own air force. Having defeated the Israeli forces to this extent, Egyptian forces, rather than advancing under air cover, decided to immediately penetrate further into the Sinai desert. In spite of huge losses they kept advancing, creating the chance to open a gap between army forces. That gap was exploited by a tank division led by Ariel Sharon, and he managed to penetrate onto Egyptian soil, reaching Suez city. In the meantime, the United States initiated a strategic airlift to provide replacement weapons and supplies to Israel and appropriate $2.2 billion in emergency aid. OPEC oil ministers led by Saudi Arabia retaliated with an oil embargo against the U.S. A UN resolution supported by the United States and the Soviet Union called for an end to hostilities and for peace talks to begin. On March 5, 1974 Israel withdrew the last of its troops from the west side of the Suez Canal, and 12 days later Arab oil ministers announced the end of the embargo against the United States. For Sadat and many Egyptians the war was seen as a victory, as the initial Egyptian successes restored Egyptian pride and led to peace talks with the Israelis that eventually allowed Egypt to regain the entire Sinai peninsula in exchange for a peace agreement.

Relations with United States

In foreign relations Sadat instigated momentous change, shifting Egypt from a policy of confrontation with Israel to one of peaceful accommodation through negotiations. Following the Sinai Disengagement Agreements of 1974 and 1975, Sadat created a fresh opening for progress by his dramatic visit to Jerusalem in November 1977. This led to an invitation from President Jimmy Carter of the United States to President Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Begin to enter trilateral negotiations at Camp David.

The outcome was the historic Camp David accords, signed by Egypt and Israel and witnessed by the U.S. on September 17, 1978. The accords led to the March 26, 1979, signing of the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty, by which Egypt regained control of the Sinai in May 1982. Throughout this period, U.S.–Egyptian relations steadily improved, and Egypt became one of America’s largest recipients of foreign aid. Sadat’s willingness to break ranks by making peace with Israel earned him the enmity of most other Arab states, however. In 1977, Egypt fought a short border war with Libya.

Reforms Under Sadat

Sadat used his immense popularity with the Egyptian people to try to push through vast economic reforms that ended the socialistic controls of Nasserism. Sadat introduced greater political freedom and a new economic policy, the most important aspect of which was the Infitah or “open door.” This relaxed government controls over the economy and encouraged private investment. While the reforms created a wealthy and successful upper class and a small middle class, they had little effect upon the average Egyptian who began to grow dissatisfied with Sadat’s rule. In 1977, Infitah policies led to massive spontaneous riots (‘Bread Riots’) involving hundreds of thousands of Egyptians when the state announced that it was retiring subsidies on basic foodstuffs.

Liberalization also included the reinstitution of due process and the legal banning of torture. Sadat dismantled much of the existing political machine and brought to trial a number of former government officials accused of criminal excesses during the Nasser era. Sadat tried to expand participation in the political process in the mid-1970s but later abandoned this effort. In the last years of his life, Egypt was wracked by violence arising from discontent with Sadat’s rule and sectarian tensions and experienced a renewed measure of repression including extra judicial arrests.

Attributions