Tahseen Bashir, or Tahsin Basheer, (April 1925 – June 11, 2002) was an Egyptian

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

who served as both a confidant and spokesman for several Egyptian presidents, including

Gamal Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-re ...

and

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 ...

. In 1977, Bashir was appointed Egypt's ambassador to the Arab League, and later he served as ambassador to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

until 1985. He coined several memorable political phrases. Regarding his belief in the centrality of Egypt within the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

he opined, "Egypt is the only nation-state in the Arab world; the rest are just tribes with flags". When asked why the Egyptian

President Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in ...

had not made more changes in his cabinet, Bashir remarked, "Because their tombs weren't ready." Bashir viewed Mubarak’s listless, gentrified advisors as "The

mummification A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furt ...

of the Egyptian cabinet". Bashir wrote a critique of Mubarak’s under-performing economic policies titled "I Support You but I Do Not Endorse You" in a September 1992 issue of ''Al Wafd'' newspaper. His first wife was Sana Hasan, who eventually moved to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and wrote ''Enemy in the Promised Land'' (1988) which described her experiences there; they later divorced. His second wife was long-time intimate, Laila Ibrahim Basmy, whom he married barely a month before his death. Two book titles by

Charles Glass Charles Glass (born November 18, 1951) is an American- British author, journalist, broadcaster and publisher specializing in the Middle East and the Second World War. He was ''ABC News'' chief Middle East correspondent from 1983 to 1993, and has ...

have used Bashir's Tribes With Flags quote: ''Tribes With Flags: A Dangerous Passage Through the Chaos of the Middle East'' (April 1990) and ''Tribes With Flags: A Journey Curtailed'' (1992). Another version of Bashir’s ‘flag’ quip is: “ 'When the chips are down, there is only one real place in the entire area – Egypt,' a

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo met ...

diplomat once declared. 'All the rest – forgive me – are tribes with flags.'" He graduated from

Alexandria University Alexandria University ( ar, جامعة الإسكندرية) is a public university in Alexandria, Egypt. It was established in 1938 as a satellite of Fouad University (the name of which was later changed to Cairo University), becoming an indepen ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

, and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

.https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2002-06-15-0206150061-story.html

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bashir, Tahseen 1925 births 2002 deaths Egyptian diplomats Ambassadors of Egypt to the Arab League Ambassadors of Egypt to Canada Alexandria University alumni Princeton University alumni Harvard University alumni