Page 4 - Issue-23

3 ELITE Vol.1 No.23 September 2020 |

The Paradox of The Illiberal Nasserist Egypt is

its encouraging of Arts, Science and Culture

analysis, which I still adhere to despite all the challenges raised
regime’s orientation, yet they were more focused on the Arab
against it and other schools. Dr. Ezzeldin Fouda had a unique
league.
school in international law; since it’s important for a professor to
have his own perspective as opposed to simply following external
Another center of activity was poster journalism which
developments and this applied to all the professors I’ve mentioned;
flourished without censorship; I mean that we had some sort of
so, Dr. Abdel Malek Ouda was not captive to Western theories
self-censorship or we believed in the orientation of the Nasserist
towards Africa and Dr. Ezzeldin Fouda had a perspective of
regime but my point is that we didn’t seek permission from
international law emanating from our Arab and Islamic contexts,
anyone before we put pen to paper.
which gave him a powerful input despite his few writings.
Similarly, Dr, Samaan and Dr. Ibrahim had their own perspectives
Moreover, the student union was active; we had a theatrical
as well.
group and the Faculty won multiple sports competitions. The
Faculty contributed around 50 students to the youth organization
However, Dr. Boutros Ghaly was the one who influenced me the
that the regime established as well as three members to the
most at the Faculty. He was not only my professor when I was an
organization’s central committee who were Dr. Mostafa El
undergraduate but he also supervised my master’s and PhD theses.
Meseiry, Dr. Ahmed Sharaf, and Dr. Azza Wahby. In addition,
I thus learned a lot from him including objectivity and seriousness
Dr. Mona Zulfacar and I were members of the Giza governorate
in scientific research as well as values such as integrity,
committee and Dr. Osama El Ghazaly was an active member of
assertiveness and remaining calm in discussions.
the Socialist Union Committee at the Faculty when the elections
to the Union were held. Therefore, we can see that the Faculty
Outside of FEPS, I learned from the works of different Egyptian
was an active hub in all domains, be it political, cultural, social
intellectuals although I was particularly influenced by the model
or sports.
that Mohamed Hassanein Heikal represented as a journalist – and
I’m concerned here with his professional rather than political
3. To whom is Dr. Ahmed Youssef grateful?
aspects. Heikal was a meticulous journalist capable of writing
about the most important issues in Egypt and the region; his books
I’d rather talk about those who have influenced me and all my
are essential to anyone interested in the history and present of the
great professors influenced me to different degrees. Dr. Abdel
region. I knew him personally but we weren’t close; he gifted me
Malek Ouda was the first to guide me towards the importance of
some books and it was a mutually-respectful relationship. I’ve
African Studies and he was an unparalleled expert with
Nourhan Osama, Youstina Ebeid, Maries Adel, Nadeen Hesham, Nouran Hossam, Mostafa Sayyed, Reem
always thought that being truly successful entails not capturing
international standing in this field. Dr. Samaan Boutros
respect.
opponents’
Omran , Zeina Tarek, Hana Henien, Hania Bahaa, Yassmine Gamal Hussein, Salma Bayoumi, Mariam Sultan, this
And
your
but
admirers
having
rather
for
seriousness
model
a
was
Faragallah
in
science
and
true
applied to Heikal who had many people who disagreed with him
international relations. Dr. Ibrahim Sakr was the first to instill in
Nada Hosny, Jozeph George , Farah Ezz Eldin, Aliyaa Assem, Assile Mostafa, Rana Doss, Mirna Ossama,
but did not dare discredit his standing as a journalist. What also
me the roots of the realistic school in international relations
Farah Islam, Zeina Arafa.
| Vol.1 No.23 September 2020 |