This paper aspires to examine the ways in which after he came to power Gamal ‘Abd al-Nasser both directly, and indirectly influenced the South Yemeni nationalist movement, and at the same time look at the counter-strategies that were employed by Britain, and her South Yemeni clients against the tide of both nasserist ideology, and material support emanating from Egypt. The role of the Sawt al-Arab broadcasts in forming South Arabian public opinion, and preempting the actions of the colonial authorities, and movements hostile to Nasser; the shifting Egyptian policies towards the NLF and FLOSY, and their forced merger, the ways in which the ‘Arab Cold War’, and Nasser’s hostility towards the Movement of Arab Nationalists were played out on the ground in South Yemen; and British policies aimed at containing Egyptian influence in the region are themes that would form part of the paper. The research material in support of this study comes from my own fieldwork in 2009-10 in archives in Yemen and Egypt, supported by materials from the British Colonial Office Archives in London, and will also draw significantly from the personal interviews I conducted with leading figures of the NLF and FLOSY as well as former local rulers, and supporters of Nasser.