The supra-Egyptian nationalist doctrines which developed in Egypt after 1930 did not all have an external referent, such as the Islamic or Arab communities, as their point of departure. There was also a nationalist ideology which, while possessing a supra-Egyptian dimension, nonetheless kept Egypt as its central focus. Unlike the other supra-Egyptian ideologies, its external dimensions were tactical rather than strategic, instrumental rather than fundamental. Egypt remained its primary concern, with an Egyptian external identification and role seen as the necessary mechanisms for the achievement of specifically Egyptian national purposes. Although sharing many of the supra-Egyptian elements found in the Egyptian Islamic and Egyptian Arab nationalist approaches, it retained an Egypt-centered core.

We have termed this approach integral Egyptian nationalism. The term “integral nationalism” was coined by Charles Maurras to refer to the variant of late nineteenth to early twentieth-century European nationalist doctrine which was distinguished by “the exclusive pursuit of national policies, the absolute maintenance of national integrity, and the steady increase of national power.” The generic feature of integral nationalism is the absoluteness of the nation: “integral nationalism defines the one nation as the Absolute. It is not justified by its followers in terms of service to a higher cause; the cult of the nation becomes an end in itself.” Internally integral nationalism was usually illiberal, subordinating considerations of individual liberty to the demands of national strength; externally it was expansionist and militarist, assuming the inevitability of the need for force in international relations.