‘Two Cheers for Democracy’: Empire, Cold War and British Propaganda in Egypt, 1945-1955

After World War II, numerous government agencies and institutions combined to orchestrate a British propaganda strategy in Egypt that aimed to secure specific political, economic and strategic objectives, popularise favourable images of Britain and British culture, and to attain that most amorphous of diplomatic constructs, ‘influence’. Methods ranged from psychological operations and political warfare conducted as part of counter-insurgency operations in the Suez Canal Zone, through to forms of information policy and cultural diplomacy targeting Egyptian newspaper readers, radio listeners and cinema-goers. This essay argues that British propaganda in Egypt, despite a number of technical achievements and tactical successes, failed to appeal to audiences more readily motivated by the forms of nationalism and pan-Arabism that came to dominate Egyptian politics in the mid-1950s. Despite the technical sophistication of its propaganda, Britain’s ability to influence Egyptian opinion and shape events remained extremely limited. The subsequent decline of British influence and prestige had implications for the Empire that reached beyond the borders of Egypt, across the Middle Eastern region and into the wider world.