No war, no peace: Egypt and the Arab-Israeli conflict, 1952-1973

From 1952 to 1973, Egypt faced a central dilemma regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict. On the one hand, Egypt lacked the military means to impose its will on Israel; on the other hand, Arab public opinion was so aroused as to make far-reaching compromise with the Jewish state politically hazardous. Until 1967, Egypt responded to this dilemma by attempting to avoid either full-scale hostilities or consequential diplomacy. After 1967, Israel's occupation of Egyptian and other Arab territory constituted a new and intolerable status quo for Cairo. Thus Egypt acted with a new boldness, pursuing military and diplomatic initiatives inconceivable in previous years. Salim Yaqub is assistant professor of history at the University of Chicago. His first book, Containing Arab Nationalism: The Eisenhower Doctrine and the Middle East, has been published this year by the University of North Carolina Press.