ABSTRACT
The advent of soldier-politicians in Egypt led to the creation of a durable regime; in Syria and Iraq it led to the creation of what might be termed durable conditions. The cohesion of the officer corps or the lack of it helps explain why the experience of Egypt under the military diverged from that of Syria and Iraq. In modern times, it must be remembered, Egypt could claim a longer military tradition than its two northern neighbors, a tradition that traced back to Mehmed Ali in the first half of the nineteenth century. A major reason why neither the Iraqi nor the Syrian officers contrived to work as a team could be found in the heterogeneous societies of the two states, which contrasted with the relatively homogeneous society of Egypt. The soldiers who reached the highest political office in Cairo after 1952 were Sunni Arabs only, as were also nearly all the cadets at the military academy.
