February 1, 1958 marks the founding of the United Arab Republic. In the late 1950s Gamal Abdul Nasser was a hero in the Arab world. As President of Egypt, he’d resisted foreign domination. He was also adept at Cold War politics and the United Arab Republic was an attempt to formalize the growing pan-Arabism movement, the idea that the Arab peoples of the Middle East and North Africa should be united into one nation. Historian John Schmidt tells us how it began and how it ended. Guest: John Schmidt is a historian and the author of “On This Day in Chicago History.” (AP Photo/Jim Pringle)