Global margins, central actors: Yugoslavia, Egypt, and the non- aligned project, 1948-1970

This dissertation reexamines the formative decades of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) by centering the bilateral relationship between Yugoslavia and Egypt from 1948 to 1970. Departing from traditional superpower-centric Cold War narratives, it explores how these two “marginal” states—one socialist and European, the other postcolonial and Arab—emerged as central actors in shaping a Third Worldist project that challenged global hierarchies. The study argues that Yugoslav-Egyptian relations, particularly following the 1956 Suez War, played a critical role in institutionalizing NAM. Yugoslavia’s independent path to socialism after the Tito-Stalin split and Egypt’s revolutionary transformation under Gamal Abdel Nasser fostered a shared ideological and strategic alignment. Central to this partnership was Yugoslavia’s export of its self-management model and foreign policy framework—termed the “Yugoslav experience”—which resonated with Egypt’s Arab Socialism. Methodologically, the dissertation employs a transnational and relational historical approach, utilizing Yugoslav archives and Arabic-language sources to trace policy exchange and ideological flows. It also examines how Yugoslavia’s Islamic Community became an active player in soft diplomacy, influencing both foreign relations and domestic nation-building efforts, particularly in relation to Bosniak identity. Thematically, the study bridges diplomatic history with intellectual and cultural history, interrogating the dynamics of policy transfer, the construction of Third World solidarity, and the limits of non-alignment during crises such as the 1967 Six-Day War. In doing so, it contributes to a growing body of literature that repositions the Global South—and non-superpower actors—as generative forces in 20th-century worldmaking. Ultimately, it reveals that the Non-Aligned Movement was not just a strategic geopolitical stance, but a complex and contested ideological endeavor born from mutual exchange and political necessity.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

History

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Vucicevic, Damir

Contributors dc:contributor

• Todorova, Maria
• Cuno, Kenneth
• Brennan, James
• Stubbs, Paul

• Yugoslavia
• Non-Aligned Movement
• Egypt
• Nasser
• Tito
• Islamic Community
• Self-Management
• Arab-Israeli Conflict
• Suez War
• Policy Transfer

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Damir Vucicevic

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129747

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F129747