Political and social theorist Sir Isaiah Berlin famously compared nationalism to a ‘bent twig’, ‘forced down so severely that when released, it lashed back with fury’ (Berlin 1972). Berlin referred to the resilience of nationalism in the face of purportedly countervailing trends such as sectarianism, multiculturalism and competing sources of collective identity, notably religion. He published his observations in his essay ‘The bent Twig’, in 1972 (Berlin 1972).

This was nearly twenty years before theories of nationalism reached its peak of relevance in the 1990s, triggered by the end of the cold war and the dissolution of the Soviet bloc (Auer 2007). These changes of the political and social dynamic were accompanied by the publications of, while not the first, arguably the most important works in the field of nationalism research.  With Ernest Gellner’s “Nations and Nationalism” (1983) Benedict Andersen’s “Imagined communities” (1983) and Eric Hobsbawm’s “Invented traditions” (1983), a theoretical framework was delivered with which the political and social developments of the post-war period could be analyzed in detail.

Despite the obvious differences in the theories of the aforementioned modernist authors, all of them focused on nationalism primarily in the context of nation building. The substance of the nation and therefore the question of how and when nations, and with this nationalism, where formed was the focal point of their studies. With the gradually emerging establishment of a large part of today's nation-states around the globe, this approach had lost much of its practical references. As a result, many theoreticians in the field such as such as Kramer (1993), Habermas (2001), and Kurun (2017) decreed the era of post-nationalism. The notion of post-nationalism is not to be understood as polarities or antonyms to the concept of nationalism, but it is viewed as political framework, that arose as a symptom of larger globalizing patterns. A development that, while theoretically able to coexist with nationalism, would nevertheless be gradually superseding it (Nunn 2011). Thus, to declare a post-nationalist era, also implies that nationalism is steadily declining in its importance to the political and social processes.

Contrary to this notion and in the spirit of Sir Isaiah Berlin’s ‘bent twig’, the Freedom Party in Austria, Jobbik in Hungary, Law and Justice in Poland, Front National in France, the Swiss People’s Party and the Alternative for Germany, have all gained substantial ground, if not secured governing majorities, during their respective countries last elections (BBC News 2018).  Outside of Europe the rise of Donald Trump in the USA and Narendra Modi in India are simply an extension of that movement, where nationalism is the nucleus of the often also far-right, protectionist and populist agendas of political groups, aiming for gain and preservation of political power. All these trends, while contradicting previously assumed achievements of a globalized world, are accentuating the importance for a different perspective on nationalism. One that is adapted to the political context and realities of our time.

A renewal of such kind could be found, inter alia, with John Breuilly’s ‘Nationalism and the State’ (1882) and Michael Billig’s ‘Banal Nationalism’ (1995).  These pioneering works for the strand of instrumentalist theorists are dedicated to approach nationalism in its highly relevant form, in which it is functioning as a political strategy. Both scholars consider national arguments as tools of a particular political agenda, for this it is of no importance if the nation exists or known what the nation is. Nationalism in this power- and thus politically- centered approach, is excellently suited to analyze modern phenomena and patterns of nationalism. This approach is particularly relevant for an era in which nation states are usually already well established.

In the Western world, nationalism research has largely adopted the new nationalist processes. In the Arab world, however, research is still primarily focused on the Pan Arabian era, while the period from Nāṣir’s death in1971 onwards it is labeled by some as the post- nationalistic era (Kurun 2017). Of particular and possibly overshadowing interest in the region is research into the role and development of the other major source of collective identity in the region, Islamism.

The focus of this research is to identify recurring patterns and functions of nationalism in Egypt and to briefly highlight the origin of these, in their developments and in their historical context. The first chapter aims to clarify the role of Arab nationalism in the process of nation state building in Egypt. The subsequent chapter, the use of nationalism as an instrument for maintaining power and gaining power in the tradition of Breuilly and Billig should be pointed out along the powerful political figures of Egypt. Furthermore, the question should be answered to what degree nationalism is important in the contemporary political process in Egypt.

Historically, developments in Egypt carried great symbolism and where usually followed by rile effects around the region. Even though Egypt has lost some of its former ascendancy in recent decades, what happens in Egypt as the most populous country in the Arab world in the realm of politics, culture and society still greatly influences the Middle East.