Soviet-Egyptian Relations, 1945–85

291 Pages·1987·27.732 MB·English

by  Mohrez Mahmoud El Hussini (auth.)

SOVIET-EGYPTIAN RELATIONS, 1945-85
Also by Mohrez Mahmoud El Hussini
OUR REVOLUTIONARY DOCfRINE: Theory and Practice
IDEOLOGICAL CONFLICf: Pragmatism and Spiritualism
CULTURAL PROBLEMS IN UNDERDEVELOPED COUNTRIES
THE INFLUENCE OF SEA POWER UPON EGYPT'S POLITICAL
HISTORY
Soviet-Egyptian
Relations, 1945-85
Mohrez Mahmoud El Hussini
Commodore of the Egyptian Navy
and Head of the Department of Naval History, Egypt
Foreword by
Field-Marshal Mohamed Abel Halim Abou Gazala
Egyptian Minister of Defence
Preface by
Admiral Ali Gad
Commander-in-Chief, Egyptian Navy
Palgrave Macmillan UK
ISBN 978-1-349-07663-5 ISBN 978-1-349-07661-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-07661-1
© Mohrez El Hussini 1987
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1987
All rights reserved. For information write:
Scholarly & Reference Division,
St. Martin's Press Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
First published in the United States of America in 1987
ISBN 978-0-312-74781-7
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
El Hussini, Mohrez Mahmoud, 1942-
Soviet-Egyptian relations, 1945-85
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Soviet Union-Foreign relations-Egypt.
2. Egypt-Foreign relations-Soviet Union
3. Soviet Union-Foreign relations-1945-
1. Title.
DK69.4.E3E4 1987 327.47062 86-13748
ISBN 978-0-312-74781-7
Contents
List ofF igures vii
Acknowledgements ix
Foreword by Field-Marshal Mohamed Abd Halim Abou Gazala xi
Preface by Admiral Ali Gad xii
List ofA bbreviations xiii
Introduction xv
PART I THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE SUPERPOWERS'
POLICIES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
1 The Geopolitical Equilibrium between Land Power and Sea Power
in the Mediterranean 3
2 The Foundations of US Foreign Policy and Strategy 12
The American quest for influence and military facilities in Egypt 15
3 Soviet Penetration in the Eastern Mediterranean: Objectives
and Methods 25
Russian Tactics 32
PART II THE EVOLUTION OF SOVIET-EGYPTIAN RELATIONS,
1943-70
4 The Dawn of Soviet Influence in Egypt 37
Egypt's positive neutralism 41
5 The USSR and the Egyptian Revolution, 1952 44
Nasser seeks arms from the USA 46
The growth of Soviet influence in Egypt 49
Nasser's search for power 53
The first arms deal with the USSR, September 1955 55
6 Soviet-Egyptian Relations in Khrushchev's Era 65
Causes of friction in Soviet-Egyptian relations: the Suez crisis 67
Nasser's pursuit of power 69
A new stage in Soviet-Egyptian relations: the dawn of Soviet
pressure on Nasser for naval facilities 71
7 The First Phase 1957--61: Soviet Restrained Policy towards Egypt 79
Nasser's positive neutralism 79
New factors in Soviet naval policy in the
Eastern Mediterranean 83
The UAR and the Soviet Union, 1958--61 88
Soviet naval aid to Egypt, 1958--61 92
The Soviet policy of appeasement towards Egypt, 1961 97
America and the Middle East, 1958--61 98
v
vi Contents
The Soviet response to American naval policy 104
The re-evaluation of Soviet naval capability, requirements
and policy 107
Capabilities and constraints in Nasser's foreign policy 110
8 The Second Phase 1962-5: Soviet Policy of Compromise with
Egypt 113
Soviet-Egyptian relations in the era of peaceful compromise 113
The naval issue in Soviet-Egyptian relations, 1963-4 118
Crisis in American-Egyptian relations, 1964: Johnson's era 123
Nasser's identification with Arabism 128
The westward pattern of Egyptian and Soviet naval deployment
in the Mediterranean 137
Deterioration in American-Egyptian relations 140
Soviet-Egyptian relations under Brezhnev and Kosygin 143
Nasser's conciliatory move toward the USA, December 1964:
hope and disappointment 146
Gorshkov's second visit to Egypt, March 1965 148
The first Soviet naval visit to Egypt, July 1965 149
9 The Third Phase 1965-70: The Growth of Sovietlnfluence 151
The deterrent factor in Soviet naval policy in the
Mediterranean 152
New criteria in Soviet policy towards Egypt 159
The war of attrition: the deployment of the Soviet
national air defence forces (PVO) in 1970 180
Initial positions and diplomatic manoeuvres 183
Shelepin's visit and the war of attrition 183
PART III SOVIET-EGYPTIAN RELATIONS, 1970-85
10 The Sadat Presidency: A New Era in Soviet-Egyptian Relations 191
Sadat'snewlook 192
The first phase, 1970-3: the adjustment of policy by mutual
concessions 194
The Soviet-Egyptian treaty of friendship and cooperation 195
The decision to terminate the presence of Soviet
personnelin Egypt 198
Motives and justifications for Sadat's decision 199
Thewarof0ctober1973 201
The second phase, 1973-6: a course of disengagement 204
The third phase 1976--81: the exclusion of Soviet influence
and a framework for peace in the Middle East 207
11 The Mubarak Presidency: Prospects for Stability and Peace 212
Conclusion 217
Appendix: Pattern ofVisits by Soviet Naval Units 225
Notes 227
Bibliography 261
Index 272
List of Figures
Figure 1.1 The United States encircled 4
Figure 1.2 The geographical pivot of history:
the heartland according to Mackinder 6
Figure 1.3 Land power versus sea power 8
Figure 1.4 The rimland according to Spykman 10
Figure 3.1 Geographical and military constraints on Soviet
forward naval deployments 28
Figure 7.1 Distances between chief Soviet naval bases 103
Figure 7.2 Soviet naval deployment in the Mediterranean Sea 108
Figure 7.3 Soviet naval deployment in the Indian Ocean 109
vii
Acknowledgements
In the preparation of this book my debt to Field-Marshal Abou Gaza
la, is far greater than I can express. In spite of heavy commitments and
responsibilities, he took the trouble to examine and read the manu
script thoroughly, and to write the Foreword. He was always generous
ly willing to help, guide and advise; without his enthusiastic encourage
ment and approval this work would never have been completed.
I am also deeply indebted to Admiral Ali Gad, Commander-in
Chief of the Egyptian Navy, for his constant guidance, help and
understanding at all times during the writing of this book. He was
graciously willing to write the Preface.
I also owe a personal debt of gratitude to many other people. First of
all, I was fortunate in being able to obtain from the Egyptian Naval
Archives the official reports on naval matters submitted by Egyptian
naval attaches and other officials, which were very valuable to this
work. For this my sincere appreciation goes to Marshal M. El Gamassy,
previously Minister of War, and Admiral Ashraf Refaat, previously
Commander-in~Chief of the Egyptian Navy, for their significant sup
port, encouragement and advice.
I would also like to thank Admiral Mahmoud Fahmy, ex
Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Navy, for allowing me to read
his unpublished memoirs, which gave me a clear vision and insight
about this subject. Similar thanks go to Admiral Mohamed Ali, ex
Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Navy, for his valuable com
ments and discussions.
I was greatly sustained during the research for and writing of this
book by the encouragement and support of Professor Bryan Ranft of
King's College, London, whose exceptional kindness and valuable
supervision all along the way deserve special thanks and appreciation.
I acknowledge with gratitude the understanding and encouragement
I first received from Professor Laurence Martin, ex-Head of Depart
ment of War Studies, King's College, London.
Additionally sincere thanks go to Dr Karen Dawisha of the Univers
ity of Southampton for her irreplaceable assistance, help and interest
ing discussions, and for introducing me to the Macmillan Press.
Also my thanks go to Professor P. Nailor of the Royal Naval
College, Greenwich, for his comments during my oral examination for
a doctorate.
lX
X Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Miss Sylvia Smither, secretary of the Depart
ment of War Studies, King's College, for her help in typing title
manuscript of my dissertation intelligently and with great efficiency.
My thanks also go to Dr Zeinab Raafat of Alexandria University for
her encouragement and assistance in preparing my thesis for publica
tion.
I would like also to thank Mr Mamdouh Mansour, Lecturer of
Political Sciences, Alexandria University, for his great and sincere
assistance in the preparation of this book.
I am grateful for the help and courtesy of the staffs of the libraries of
King's College, the British Museum, the London School of Econo
mics, Chatham House, the Royal United Service Institute, and the
Library of Congress, and for permission to use their facilities.
Special thanks and gratitude go to my wife, whose encouragement
and forbearance sustained me throughout the research and writing of
this book.
To all, I express my deepest thanks.
Dr Mohrez El Hussini
Alexandria