el's staunchest ally during the last part of the twentieth century by Arab nations. Although the United States sought open alliances with Arab nations, it succeeded only in gathering Iraq as a clear ally in the region. In fact, Egypt's Nasser made a show of remaining unaligned with any Western nations--at least openly--and encouraged other Arab states to do the same. Under Nasser, Egypt regained control of the Suez canal after more than 70 years of British control. His nonalignment strategy also enabled him to seek weapons from the United States in the 1950s, and when he was turned down, to successfully seek and obtain weapons from the Soviet Union. When the World Bank refused to fund the building of the Aswan Dam, Nasser sought and received financing from the Soviet Union. Increasingly, Egypt and Nasser were viewed by the West and by other Arab nations as a successful secular nation whose nationalistic tendencies contributed to its growing political power in the region (Ash E53).
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