The Egyptian identity and sense of nationalism have changed dramatically through time. From a strictly Egyptian identity during the country’s time as a monarchy under Muhammed Ali, over a sense of Pan-Arabism in Nasser’s Egypt, to a more Islamic one in the 2000’s.
However, the revolution in 2011 has raised questions over the future of Egyptian nationalism, writes Lin Noueihed and Alex Warren in their book The Battle for the Arab Spring: Revolution, Counter-Revolution and the Making of a New Era.
How will the Egyptian identity form, now that it is evident, that the revolution did not lead to democracy and freedom as so many had hoped?
Initially, the revolution and the hope for a future without dictatorship, brought some Egyptian expats back to their home country, suggesting, that the revolution would spark a new sense of unity and nationalism.
Dr. Ibrahim Awad is director at Center for Migration and Refugee Studies at the American University in Cairo, and he has previously done studies on the revolution’s impact on migration.
“We conducted a survey, and the youth did not want to leave the country after the revolution, while some even returned. But of course, that was in 2012 and 2013, so I wonder what the survey would find if we did it again today,” says Dr. Awad.
What do you think, you would find today?
“I think some people are migrating and trying to find job opportunities abroad, now that there have been an economic slow down. And of course, the fact that we don’t know what’s coming at us in the near future also contributes to it,” says the AUC professor, suggesting that there is a link between the now vanishing sense of nationalism and urge to migrate.
What do the Egyptian youth think of their country post-revolution? Listen to two young Egyptians and their thoughts here: