ABSTRACT
As active leaders, the political practice of Saddam and Nasser has to be assessed along with their ideas. Nasser realised early on in his career the role that Egypt's unique situation gave it a chance to play. The idea of Egypt lying within 'three circles'-Arab, Islamic and African-was put forward in his The Philosophy of the Revolution and was further developed after Nasser took part in the Bandung Conference the following year. Egypt's key position in the Middle East made it possible for a time for Nasser to play the two superpowers off against each other. Nasser never created an effective political organisation to act as an instrument of state power. In addition, Nasser's socialism attempted to raise the living standards of the mass of the population through various means such as subsidies, price controls and the provision of free social services. Just as Nasser spoke of Arab Socialism, there is always an Arab dimension in Iraq's revolution.
