ABSTRACT
In September 1977, the 54-year-old Boutros-Ghali learned of his appointment as Egypt’s minister of state for foreign affairs on the radio. Boutros-Ghali’s attachment to academic life nevertheless remained profound and undiminished. Egypt’s future leader had also read and admired the professor’s articles in local newspapers and journals. In eventually agreeing to serve in government, Boutros-Ghali explained: “In Egypt, from pharaonic times to present, the tradition is one of al-Hakem, the ruler. One is the ruler or one is nothing. Boutros-Ghali’s Coptic Christian heritage remained a vital part of his identity. Boutros-Ghali did not meet Sadat to discuss the head of state’s speech or to strategise about Cairo’s approach to peacemaking with Israel before the trip to Jerusalem in November 1977. The leaders of Egypt and Israel established bilateral military and political committees at talks in the Egyptian city of Ismailia, facing the Suez Canal, in December 1977.
