ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by developing a point introduced earlier that the Sykes-Picot agreement is indeed significant, but not for the reasons brought up in present-day debates. The Sykes-Picot agreement was revealed after the Russian Revolution in 1917 when the Bolsheviks chose to publicise this instance of secret deal making. Britain’s switch from ‘security by influence’ in the Middle East to ‘security by occupation’ was followed by a series of steps designed to divide up the region into ‘spheres of influence’. The chapter presents practices of state and non-state actors who located themselves in the Arab world and pursued ‘Arab national security’. During the Cold War, the Arab national security discourse was taken up by ‘radical’ Arab leaders who sought to stay outside the superpower rivalry. President Nasser considered bringing an end to the British presence in Egypt as a priority at a time when anti-colonial sentiments ran high among Arab peoples.
