Tahseen Bashir, or Tahsin Basheer, (April 1925 – June 11, 2002) was an Egyptian diplomat who served as both a confidant and spokesman for several Egyptian presidents, including Gamal Nasser and Anwar Sadat. In 1977, Bashir was appointed Egypt’s ambassador to the Arab League, and later he served as ambassador to Canada until 1985.
He coined several memorable political phrases. Regarding his belief in the centrality of Egypt within the Middle East he opined, “Egypt is the only nation-state in the Arab world; the rest are just tribes with flags”.
From wikipedia
He was absolutely correct, of course, in the Arab world, as said.