ABSTRACT
The 23 July 1952 coup ushered in a period of rapid social, political and economic change in Egypt. In its first two years alone the military junta banned civil titles, removed its civilian politicians, abolished the monarchy, disbanded the political parties, instituted land reform, implemented progressive labor legislation, substantially increased spending on education and created a one party state. Although the shift toward non-alignment would not come until 1955, Cairo’s new masters were already asserting themselves in foreign policy by negotiating a British military withdrawal from the Suez Canal and a separate deal on the Sudan. At the center of these turbulent changes was a young, dynamic army officer named Gamal ‘Abd al-Nasser. Internal security was an abiding concern. From the beginning the Free Officer regime understood that its greatest threats came from followers of the old regime, dissident military officers, communists and the Muslim Brotherhood. Consequently, one of the regime’s earliest decisions was to create a new General Investigations Directorate (GID) with expanded security powers and capabilities and direct control of the intelligence collection process. The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was a key GID liaison partner from the outset. Not only did the GID benefit from CIA training and funding, both services saw a common adversary in the Egyptian communist movement. By the end of 1954 the communist threat had receded as the GID found itself at war with both the Muslim Brotherhood and a ring of Israeli-backed saboteurs. At this time, Egypt was also beginning to seek opportunities overseas for the expansion of her influence and power.
