AH Challenge: Arab Socialism

MrHola

Banned
Come up with a scenario where Arab Socialism is still the dominant political force of the majority of the Middle-East instead of radical Islam.
 
Israel is defeated in one the Arab League vs. Israel wars.

Aye, Pan-Arab Unity Anti-Zionism might actually have credibility then.

Also Nasser is followed by a loyal Arab Socialist as leader of Egypt, stops Cairo as the epicentre of the ideology just throwing off. Also during the Egyptian-Syrian Union as the UAR, Damascus actually gets something resembling equal power.

From there you could get Iraq joining the Union as well, as planned in OTL (the reason Iraq had the three stars on its flag, and Syria had two)

Then you have a major United Arab Republic stretching right across the Middle East, with the chance of a beating Israel, and most certainly kicking the crap out of the Ayatollah if events resembling our 1979-80 appear
 
Maybe less authoritarian or something, just socialist. Also at some point maybe Saudi Arabia has some kind of socialist coup and joins the UAR.
 
Make it a true Arab-Islamic socialism, less Western, make it address the needs of the poor better. In a sense, I feel fundamentalism has filled that role. Socialism and Western liberalism (or the veneer of it) have failed in the Arab world because they both were dominated by the needs and interests of the elites.
 

Deleted member 5719

Make the Islamic revolution in Iran into an Islamic/Socialist revolution, i.e no Suppression of Tudeh.

The inspiration of a Shiah state to Sunni Islamists should not be underestimated.

However, the amount of money that Saudi Arabia spends on spreading its deformed and sadicised f@ckwit version of Islam would still mean that there was a strong islamist presence in most places in the region.
 
Make it less socialistic and economically sucessful.
Economic situation of Arab regimes seem to be definitely decoupled from evergreen Western dilemma of "market vs. socialism". Taking into account conditions they operated in, Socialist Syria is not traling Capitalist Egypt, if at all. And "Conditions" mean "foreign meddling". So in order to change fate of "Arab socialism" we need to change the ways foreign powers meddled in the regional affairs. IOTL lines (although, taking into account regional conditions, they definitely were "lines in the sand") were very firmly drawn according to basic formula "West supports Fundamentalist Islamists, Commies support Modernizators". Arab Socialism never went farther than Scandinavians (or Socialist French) in their ideology, but they picked wrong master.

So we need to couple one of dominating "Arab Socialist" regimes of the day with Western country which does not have seizures every time words "universal health care" or "social security net" are uttered. Then, once USSR is fallen, this country can organize "palace revolution" to replace upper levels of other "arab socialist" countries, who "disgraced pure ideal of Arab Socialism by cooperation with Communism". I propose French-Iraqi alliance (those countries closely cooperated IOTL), supported by Swedish. Then Hussein organizes carefully orchestrated regime change in Syria in 1990 instead of OTL Kuwait escapade. Taking into account that OTL regimes of Algeria and Libya are Arab Socialist today, half of the region is "Socialist".

Yes, but in a way that Israel doesnt fall. Its a major rallying point for Arab Socialism, after all, and hence "needed", in a way.
Major? Make it "cornerstone". Although I would pity Sadat/Mubarak regime and kings of Marocco. Tunisia and Jordan if one of Arab Socialist countries really manages to deliver near-fatal blow to Israel. Those "Western Puppets" will be swept away.
 
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