Cultural Propaganda and Plans for a British University in the Near East

Abstract

This essay draws on archival documents to explore the British Empire's project of establishing a university in the eastern Mediterranean in the 1930s. The British possessions in the region were at stake in the aftermath of the First World War. Since the early 1930s the Foreign Office had been eagerly planning the establishment of a university in the region in order to make the local elites familiar with the so-called western culture. Egypt, Palestine, and Cyprus were considered the most likely locations for the institution. It is argued that cultural propaganda was perceived by the Foreign Office as an essential component of the empire's strategy and legitimacy in its sphere of influence. Although the project was eventually not realized due to the outbreak of the Second World War, its significance lies in the demonstration of the British grand strategy in the eastern Mediterranean during the interwar period.

Divide et Impera: Vertical and Horizontal Dimensions of British Imperialism

“…24 The global overextension of the British Empire and the consequent opposition of indigenous national movements necessitated the adoption of a less expensive and confrontational form of domination that would be based on indigenous collaboration. 25 It was impossible to create and maintain a rule in the form of the plantation or the settlement model in all of the imperial possessions. Therefore, the imperial strategy eventually evolved to take the form of an indirect rule in which imperial domination was dependent on collaboration with the indigenous intermediaries.…”