Pan- Islamism and Pan- Arabism. Debating Possible Convergences in Responses to Modernity

Abstract

Pan- Islamism and Pan- Arabism are among the majors’ responses to modernity produced between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in the Arabic- Islamic world, promoting a possible alternative to the Western proposals. This article aims to contribute to the effort of framing and analyzing the debate on the birth and evolution of both “theories”, with specific regard to the case of Egypt. In this sense, this article is in line with Gerges’s proposal (as expressed in his last book Making the Arab World) of “ideational fluidity” and tries to contribute to breaking down the established and misleading dichotomy of two monolithic ideologies (Pan- Islamism and Pan- Arabism) having no interaction. In fact, while preserving hard- core differences, Pan- Islamic thinkers and Pan- Arabist ideologues were part of a common cultural milieu, like two characters taking part in the same debate. A debate in which, while maintaining different stances, they mutually influenced each other. This article will identify some of those converging views by analyzing the Pan- Islamis ideological birth and development, and focusing on Nasser’s speeches in his formative years, between 1952 and 1954, to demonstrate mutual influences.