The author of the Arabic-language book from which these excerpts are derived from is Ahmad Hamrush (1921-2011). Involved in the Free Officers’ coup of July 23, 1952, Hamrush left the army in 1955, but stayed a regime insider. He became a historian who wrote a multi-volume history of the coup, among other books; he edited several journals including the army’s al-Tahrir and the famous political magazine Rose al-Yusuf; he was Secretary General of the Egyptian Committee for Afro-Asian Solidarity in the 1960s; and he was a travel writer, as this book shows. It recounts a journey in 1968 to the People’s Republic of China, North Korea, and North Vietnam.

Although in the 1950s and deep into the 1960s, African decolonization struggles had attracted much attention in the Arab world and perhaps especially in Arab North Africa, Asia was a key concern, too—in the 1960s especially Vietnam. This was of course not exceptional. As books like Quinn Slobodian’s Foreign Front: Third World Politics in Sixties West Germany (2012) have shown, Vietnam as a cause—and some Vietnamese as actors—helped midwife the German student movement in the 1960s. (In Germany, the shah’s Iran and Iranian activists mattered greatly, too, however.) To take two more examples, Vietnam as a mode and model of reference mattered to anti-Soviet Lebanese leftists in the 1960s, as Laure Guirguis’ “La référence au Vietnam et l’émergence des gauches radicales au Liban, 1962-1975” (2018) has shown, and Iranians—leftists and others—followed developments in Vietnam closely, as Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet has noted in “The Anti-Aryan Moment: Decolonization, Diplomacy, and Race in Late Pahlavi Iran” (2021).

What distinguishes this text is its timing. Hamrush reflects on a journey he made soon after the Six-Day War of June 1967. That month Israel inflicted a humiliating defeat on Arab armies, including Egypt’s, the most powerful Arab state. This drastically amplified concerns some already had had about President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s (1918-1970) regime and triggered much self-critique in books like Al-naqd al-dhati ba‘da al-hazima (1968; in 2021 translated as Self-Criticism after the Defeat) by the Syrian Marxist political thinker Sadiq Jalal al-‘Azm (1934-2016).

The CCP Central Committee outlines how the PRC can support Egypt during the Suez crisis.

Premier Zhou and Chen Yi answer questions from reporters in Cairo. Zhou and Chen were asked about issues such as their visit to Arab and African countries, China's support for national liberation movements in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, the United Arab Republic (Egypt) and Sri Lanka's perspective of the Sino-Indian border conflict, the purpose of the Chinese delegation's visit to Arab and African countries, issues that will be discussed in potential second Bandung Conference, the Sino-Soviet split, and the Pakistani national movement. Zhou also explains why China opposed the ban on nuclear test treaty.

This issue begins with a joint statement from Zhou Enlai and Cambodian Prime Minister San Yun. It also covers Sino-Egyptian trade, the national budget for 1957, and various provincial administrative matters, such as renaming counties in Heilongjiang Province.

This issue commemorates the 90th birthday of Sun Yat-sen and continues to decry British and French aggression in Egypt. It also affirms Sino-Burmese relations after former Burmese Prime Minister U Nu visited China as Chairman of the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League. Other sections cover the need for labor protection, establishing and expanding local people's committees, and problems with work assignments for university graduates.

This issue begins by denouncing British and French aggression against Egypt during the Suez Canal Crisis. It also includes a Chinese statement about the Soviet Declaration "to Strengthen Friendship and Cooperation [with] Other Socialist States," which acknowledges tensions between socialist countries and the need to address people's demands in Hungary and Poland. The next sections feature a message from Zhou Enlai to János Kádár, who would lead Hungary after the failed Revolution of 1956, and Sino-Nepali correspondence.

This issue begins with a joint statement from Premier Zhou Enlai and the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. It also covers Sino-Egyptian trade and outlines organizational guidelines for the "expert bureau." Other sections discuss relaxing the rural market, problems related to rural finances, and managing teachers' benefits.

This issue begins with a Sino-Egyptian agreement to promote cultural cooperation. It also outlines organizational guidelines for the Preparatory Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Other sections cover emergency relief for professional folk art performance troupes, holding performances, and various provincial administrative concerns.

This issue first discusses the problem of the Suez Canal in Egypt. It also addresses Sino-Nepalese relations, the establishment of Sino-Yemeni relations, and whether the Sino-American ambassadorial talks should consider the US-China trade embargo. Other sections cover domestic topics such as disaster relief and student dropouts.

This issue covers a Sino-Lebanese trade agreement. It also features a letter that Zhou Enlai wrote to thank the government of Czechoslovakia for agricultural machinery. Other sections address Chinese support for the recently nationalized Suez Canal, transforming private industries into socialist ones, and assigning jobs to university graduates.