For Alex Rowell, the need to reassess the legacy of former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser has only increased in the decades since the death of the hugely influential figure, and especially recently.

“If you just take a moment to look at the Arab Spring and the countries in which the largest protests occurred, and the regimes against which millions so courageously rose up … they were precisely the regimes that were the most direct legacies of Nasser’s time in power,” Rowell, New Lines’ online editor and author of “We Are Your Soldiers: How Gamal Abdel Nasser Remade the Arab World,” tells Joshua Martin.

Rowell and Martin consider Nasser’s enduring impact up to the present day, including Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.

Further reading: Hoping to Channel Nasser, Egypt’s Sisi Provokes a Backlash

Produced by Finbar Anderson

For more information go to newlinesmag.com/podcast