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aimed to create a ‘Moslem Billy Graham’ who would hold immeasurable powers that

would enable him to execute ‘unpopular decisions’, one of which would be peace

with the Israelis.
59

According to the Egyptian writer and novelist Tawfiq Al-Hakim, Nasser

claimed to have been influenced by his novel The Return of the Spirit published in

1933. The novel was set during the Egyptian revolution against the British in 1919.

It revolved around the search for a hero or a saviour for Egypt. Similarly it was Al-
60

Hakim who labeled the Free Officers’ Movement following Farouk’s overthrow as

the ‘blessed movement’. As Nasser solidified his position, other nationalist
61

movements in the Arab World came under the influence and support of Egypt. Sir

Bernard Burrows, the Gulf’s Resident from 1953 to 1958, who played a role in

Bahrain’s internal conflict during the rise of the 1950s movement noted:

the themes of Arab unity and liberation from Western imperialism
carry some mystical power among the younger and more idealistic
members of society and command at least lip service from the rest.
62

During the period under study Nasser avoided ‘direct aggression’ with other Arab

States but adopted a policy of ‘infiltration and sudden revolution’.
63
In Wilbur Eveland’s view Britain linked K Roosevelt’s cooperation with

Nasser as the CIA aided him with finances to initiate trouble in the Arabian Gulf

States. In an interview with Nasser, British Ambassador to Egypt Humphrey
64

59 Copeland, The Game Player, 198-99; and Copeland, The Game of Nations, 67 and 93.
60 T. Al-Hakim, Awdat Al-Rooh [The Return of the Spirit] (Cairo: 1933).
61 K. Azib and S. Khalifa, Gamal Abdel-Nasser min Al-Qariyah ila Al-Watan Al-Arabi Al-Kabir [Gamal
Abdel-Nasser from the Village to the Grand Arab Nation] (Cairo: 2011), 29-30; and T. Al-Hakim,
Awdat Al-Wa’ie [Return of Consciousness] (Cairo: 1972), 20, hereafter Return of Consciousness.
62 TNA, FO 371/120561, Burrows to FO, 24 December 1955
63 S.G. Rostand, ‘Dealing with Nasserism’, New York Times, 17 July 1958, 26.
64 Eveland, Ropes of Sand, 155.

© Hamad E. Abdulla 16