ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 analyses relations between the Syrian Arab Republic and Egypt, the biggest Arab power. The relationship between the two countries is particularly complex. Under President Nasser Egypt had been the dominant force in the Arab world, and the leader’s popularity in the Arab world had pushed the two countries to form the United Arab Republic in 1958. This short-lived experience poisoned the relationship between the two parties in the following years. The Cairo-Damascus-Riyadh axis and particularly the 1973 war alliance appeared to be the start of a new era of cooperation between the two Arab capitals. However, the two leaderships had entered the conflict with radically different long-term goals in mind. Sadat aimed at winning a seat at the peace table with Israel and the United States, while Al-Assad sought to change the regional balance with Israel by military means. These diverging foreign policy trajectories led to a lasting inter-Arab split in the aftermath of the conflict.
