When Egypt’s Identity Is Touched, the Heart of Arabism Trembles

Amid calls to remove the word “Arab” from Egypt’s official name, Ali Khalil warns that identity cannot be redefined without consequence. Egypt’s Arab belonging is not a title of the past — it is the cornerstone of its national security and future stability.

Education: The Battlefield of Identity and the Frontline of Awareness

When a nation’s identity is targeted, the war never starts at its borders—it begins in its classrooms. Education is the most critical front in the battle for national consciousness, for it determines what kind of Egypt will exist one or two generations from now.

Those seeking to detach Egypt from its Arab identity have long realized that this cannot be done through rhetoric alone, but through the reprogramming of collective memory, beginning with curricula and cultural exposure. If Egyptian students grow up disconnected from their Arab context—seeing themselves as isolated rather than organically tied to their linguistic and cultural kin—then the project of “identity reengineering” has already succeeded.

“Identity is not preserved in constitutions; it is preserved in young minds.”

This is why Egyptian education must be rooted in the understanding that Arabism is not a political slogan but an existential truth that defines Egypt’s strength and global role.

National Security Cannot Be Managed Outside National Identity

National security cannot exist in a vacuum, detached from identity. Egypt’s national interests and security are organically intertwined with the Arab world.

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has repeatedly affirmed that “Egypt’s national security is inseparable from Arab national security,” a statement that aligns with the Egyptian Constitution, which places Arab affiliation at the core of the state’s foreign policy doctrine.

It would be naïve to believe that Egypt could safeguard its interests or sovereignty in isolation, especially in a world increasingly defined by alliances and regional power blocs. The moment Egypt detaches itself from its Arab identity, it risks losing the strategic depth that has long amplified its influence and protected its security.

Identity Is Not a Slogan — It Is a Project of Survival

Efforts to “neutralize” Egypt’s Arab identity rarely come suddenly; they unfold in gradual and calculated phases. First, the word Arab is removed from the name. Then, Arabism is reframed as a “historical phase.” Finally, Egypt’s narrative is rewritten as that of a neutral regional state—disconnected from its civilizational roots.

This ideological progression is part of a broader project aimed at fragmenting Arab consciousness and transforming a unified region into isolated entities. Yet history has shown that Egypt’s strength and leadership have always grown in proportion to its Arab connection—and declined whenever that bond weakened.

Conclusion: To Defend Arabism Is to Defend Egypt Itself

The current calls to remove the word “Arab” from Egypt’s identity are not a harmless semantic exercise; they are part of a larger existential confrontation over the meaning of being Egyptian in the 21st century.

Egypt was never strong except when it was Arab in heart, spirit, and purpose. To protect this identity is not to cling to nostalgia—it is to invest in stability and sovereignty. When Egypt safeguards its Arab identity, it safeguards itself.