The rise of the Nasseri tendency following the January revolution which toppled Mubarak was the first sign of the true transformation affecting Egyptian popular mood and political reality, while the results reaped by Nasseri candidate Hamdin Sabahi during the presidential elections established this reality in a clear way, despite of the political, media and on-the-ground conspiracies to which the Nasseris were subjected by the remnants of the former regime, the Muslim Brotherhood organization and the powers funded by Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The latter thus kept pursuing the Nasseri ghost everywhere, fearing the return of the giant that defied colonialism, Zionism and Arab backwardness.   

Clearly, the step announced on the anniversary of the death of leader Gamal Abdul Nasser from Cairo, and featuring the unification of all the Nasseri powers and sides in one party, constitutes a qualitative leap at the level of the reality of the popular change movement in Egypt, and ought to rally major energies and capabilities which were previously scattered in small competing groups and organizations.

The Nasseri program expressed by Sabahi during his presidential battle meets the interests and aspirations of the Egyptian popular forces among the middle and poor classes on the social and economic levels, as it embodies commitment to the national liberation cause, pan-Arabism and Egypt’s regaining of its leading role in its Arab environment as a liberated and active superpower, supporting Palestine, defending the project of unity and pan-Arab revival and deterring the projects of colonial hegemony in the region.

The unification of the Nasseris will mark a prelude for their participation in the next elections in Egypt, knowing they are qualified to impose their presence on the street and in public life and signal – through their action – the existence of an opportunity to see Egypt’s national and pan-Arab revival. This process could take years, but in the end, it will be the outcome of a series of struggles and efforts and should eventually result in comprehensive political change that would reflect on the region and the world.  

Nasserism, which is renewing itself on the intellectual and cultural level as a project for change, progressiveness and liberation, is proving once again it is viable and capable of developing and meeting new challenges, and is not just a faint expression of a cultural nostalgia to glories that are long gone.

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The West’s predicament in Syria: Propaganda and troubles

The Western propaganda campaign is facing a new predicament while repeating its lies in regard to the situation in Syria and continuing to spread false reports about the progress of the terrorist gangs on the ground, at a time when the facts on the field reveal the complete opposite due to the Syrian army’s persistence and strength and the growing popular rallying around the state and the armed forces amid mounting signs of infighting and division within the ranks of the armed gangs.

Firstly, it seems clear that the United States and the Western-Turkish-Gulf alliance are showing a growing determination to proceed with the attack on Syria and obstruct all the solutions and serious initiatives that might push towards the discontinuation of violence and the activation of dialogue. But what is also clear is that the sides involved in the aggression are depleting their cards, especially at the level of the mobilization of the fighting forces, after they had depleted in the last three months their last reservists that could be implicated in the war on Syria, i.e. the armed wing of the Muslim Brotherhood organization and the factions of the so-called International Jihad, knowing that thousands among the latter were mobilized in the provinces of Damascus and its Rif, in Aleppo and Deir ez-Zor in particular.

Secondly, the new element with which the American planners are threatening is the provision of additional sophisticated weapons to the terrorist and Takfiri gangs in Syria, especially anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles, some of which have already entered Syria via various smuggling roads. This factor – which the Western propaganda is saying will turn the equations upside down – actually has a limited impact following the change which affected the strategic climate of the confrontation between the Syrian national state and its armed forces on one hand, and the terrorist groups on the other, due to the fast transformation at the level of the popular attitude.

Indeed, this transformation increased the immunity of the Syrian national state and its armed forces, in a way extending beyond the fighting techniques, the circumstances of the battle and the prevailing morale. At this level, foreign correspondents noticed a qualitative turn in favor of the Syrian army, at a time when the incidents of collapse, fleeing and surrender are increasing in the ranks of the armed terrorist and Takfiri groups on the ground, in which gangs including thieves and criminals constitute the main components.

Thirdly,  the other cards on which the planners are relying to further escalate the aggression on Syria starting from the neighboring states have become quasi depleted in full, and any new adventure will backfire in a catastrophic way on the Americans and their local allies. Since the beginning of the events, the Turkish government was the most eager to interfere in Syria, while Saudi Arabia and Qatar wagered on what could be done by the Turkish army in the border regions.

However, the outcome of the excessive Turkish involvement toppled the equations, and revealed the predicament in which Erdogan’s government became implicated due to this involvement in Syria. Indeed, Turkish economy and Turkish political reality have become filled with developments, for which Erdogan is paying out of his own political future. As a result, the command of the so-called Free Army was evacuated from Turkey and Syria, and we saw the retreat of Turkish escalation on the political level, whether due to the economic and security repercussions inside Turkey, or the Kurdish factor which has a strategic impact on Turkish reality and is acting in favor of the Syrian national state at the level of this crisis.  

Fourthly, and during the last few weeks, it has become clear that Lebanon and Jordan were forced to contain the action and presence of the Syrian armed gangs, fearing the costly political and security repercussions on their respective arenas. The transformation of Jordan and Lebanon into platforms for the attack on Syria was a scenario drawn up by the American planners and the intelligence apparatuses of the states involved in the war on Syria, at a time when the outcome revealed that this path could not be used without subjecting both countries to major internal explosions that would have more dangerous repercussions than the failure of the plan to destroy the Syrian state.

Hence, the American, British and French recanting of the efforts aiming at establishing these two platforms around Syria in Jordan and Lebanon, was due to the failure and the major cost which could jeopardize the West’s interests in the region, at a time when the Syrian state continues to enjoy enough elements of deterrence that cannot be disregarded on the political, security and economic levels and at the level of Syria’s relations with both Lebanon and Jordan.

The deterring international and regional equations drew up clear boundaries for the intervention in Syria, revealing it could not exceed its current scope. And while the United States seems determined to use all the opportunities available to deplete the Syrian national state before recognizing the defeat, the implicated regional sides are the ones prone to pay the price when the time comes for a settlement of scores with the Syrian command, one which will soon ensure a resounding victory whose repercussions will affect all the regional and international balances as it is confirmed by all the pieces of information.       

The author is an Arab journalist