Narrative as an instrument to increase Egyptian margins for manoeuvre in the run-up to and during the Suez Crisis (1955-1956)

Abstract

This thesis considers the Suez Crisis (1956) from the Egyptian perspective, by assessing Gamal Abdel Nasser’s rhetorical strategy before the international community to defend his country’s sovereign interests. A combination of historical study and linguistics enabled an enhanced understanding of the Suez Crisis through an anti-colonial lens. Primary sources in the form of three speeches given by Nasser were analyzed from a cross-disciplinary linguistic perspective. What follows from the conclusion is that Nasser stretched Egyptian margin's for manoeuvre without military strength, but by using his narrative of the Egyptian struggle between foreign and national interests to garner international support, which build on the shoulders of the universally applicable espoused UN Charter values.