ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the role of external factors and foreign pressures in the development of economic policy in Egypt, drawing an analogy between the rise and fall of Muhammad 'Ali's regime in the first decade of the 19th century and that of Gamal 'Abd al-Nasir in the middle of the 20th century. Lord Palmerston claimed that the abolition of the monopoly system would, in the long run, have the effect of increasing the revenues of Egypt and the Ottoman Empire though it might for the moment paralyze Muhammad 'Ali's scheme of finance. The involvement of Egyptian women in political and social life increased, while an increasing number of industrial workers dared to hope for much higher levels of consumption and education for their children. Egypt was rendered incapable of taking any serious measures for furthering economic development or for supporting the Arab liberalization movement, Arab unity or the liberation movements in other Third World countries.