ANCIENT AND MODERN EGYPT
Demographic
Egypt is one of the leading countries in Africa with a high population. Most of the people in Egypt live along the banks of river Nile and Nile Delta in the northern part of Cairo (Esposito 52). This high population makes it one of the most densely populated regions in the world. However, there are other small communities that are dispersed in the desert regions from a clustered form of settlement in Egypt. The deserts are also known for the historic transportation and trade. The male gender is more in number that the women. The unemployment in Egypt is driven by the demographic youth bulge that is as a result of high population. Egypt population is estimated to comprise about 75% of the total population are youths making it the most youthful populations in the world.
Currency Crises
Egypt has been hit by currency crises that threaten economic collapse. This has been attributed to the case of disappearing money. With the crises still felt in Egypt there have been dangerous repercussions that had negatively affected the living conditions of the Egyptians through the rise of basic products that are essential for living (Esposito 58). A significant amount of money was lost in astronomical research that could have been used to develop the country rather it has been used to subdued demonstrations and encourage corruption. Due to the severity of the economic crises most of the Egyptians live in poverty. The GDP of the country has been declining a reason that has forced Egypt to seek monetary funding in order to prevent the country economic situation worsening.
Security
In the ancient past and the modern world, Egypt has been involved in numerous wars. In 1798 Egypt was involved in a war that was called Napoleon’s conquest of Egypt that was part of French Revolutionary that defeated the Turks and conquered Egypt. After that, there have been many other ways such as the Egypt revolution, Anglo-Egyptian War, Wahabi War, Sinai war among others. Politically the country has not been stable to the frequent unrest (Esposito 288). This has increased political demonstration and protest that in most cases turn violent with less or no warning. This had made security in Egypt to be volatile leading to many travels advisory from foreign countries. The travel advisory comes with a high degree of caution limiting foreign people from touring the country. Egypt has a high risk of terrorist’s attacks that comes with numerous shooting, bombing attacks and various terrorist incidents across it (Gelvin 60). Security services have been targeted on numerous occasions (Esposito 288).
The Role of the European Colonial Empires
The European countries began to explore the world on the 15th and the 16th century making them dominates the world as they had the ability to control the sea routes (Esposito 54). Before the colonization, the initial contact between the British and Egypt was as a result of trade link that existed between the two. Egypt was a significant part of the old spice as well as trade routes between Asia and Europe. Ottoman waters in Egypt gave the ground for loading and unloading their cargos. In the 18th century, the British military and the political interest came to be. Despite that Egypt still maintained a channel for communication between India and Britain. During this time Napoleon pointed out that Egypt was more important to British that Egypt would need them (Esposito 354). French attack on Egypt created a war with the British Army that saw the French surrender in 1801. During this time the British forces remained in Egypt marking the beginning of the British control. In 1805 Muhammed Ali defeated the British in 1807 that saw British withdraw for 75 years (Esposito 354).
British have the role of establishing formal relations in the first part of 19th century in Egypt despite the hostility. The hostility was mainly brought by the French and the Russian who wanted the gain the maximum Ottoman fortunes. The British colony in Egypt was regarded as most highly fanciful. British accomplished a strategic interest after they captured the Suez Canal in 1869 (Esposito 172). The British also created an economic empire in Egypt (Gelvin 151). There was more international agreement that was attained in the convention in London in the year 1885. The convection also led to the international loan of the Egyptian government that led to other various developments. The British also build an infrastructure that was envied by other Africans and Middle Eastern powers (Esposito 352). As a result of the Europeans in Egypt, it became the first country to explore tourism. Light and agriculture industry conceptualized leading to a great supply of food and other materials.
The Influence of Western Political and Social Currents in Egypt
The western colonization of the Egypt has greatly influenced the political and the social currents of Egypt. The significant social current was about the major Coptic Church (Esposito 54). This was the introduction of religion in Egypt. However over 90 % of the people in Egypt are Arabic-speaking Muslims with about 6 % of them being Christians who cannot be distinguished from Muslims as the also speak the language. Most of the Christians in Egypt belong to the historic Coptic Church with the minority being protestant and catholic (Esposito 57). The western culture believed in the forgiveness gospel rather than the killing of individuals who has committed a religious mistake as well as community mistakes. They also adopted the sacred ground of the Christian gospel brought by the missionaries as it showed respect to the one they worshiped. The western also changed their cultural practice of killing women that was mostly practiced by the Muslims as a well as advocating for places for women in the society as they were treated as objects (Gelvin 270).
This can be attributed to the colonizers of the country as they were bringing what was being practiced in their land into Egypt. The societal settlement was also affected by the areas that the western colonies required more labor and the areas that were most developed due to the accessibility of the services available during that time. Ethnic relations were as a result of civilization that was able to separate the people from where they came from and their cultural practices (Gelvin 359). Being an Islamic country Christianity in Egypt faced a lot of opposition which was brought by the western missionaries who aims was to preach the Christianity gospel together with the teachings that would see the Muslim abandon some of their practices as they were against human rights (Esposito 59). This significantly changed how the people of Egypt behave and treat each other. During the ancient times, people were only able to indent themselves from the community they came from. But as a way of emulating the western culture they were able to have a national identity that led to independence (Esposito 76).
The western influence in the Egypt political system has been limited as it has not fully embraced the political dispensation in most of the western countries. However, there are elements of the republican adopted by the Egyptians that is most significant to the western countries (Esposito 115). Egypt has a semi-presidential system of its government. Like in most Islamic countries the political arena is sharply divided on tribal society has been prevalent of the status quo. This implies that the small tribes of Egypt have to follow the largest Islamic tribe in the ruling of the country (Esposito 115). The revolution in the political arena of Egypt was from a monarchy type of kingship that shows the nation to being ruled by the king.
The revolution resulted to democracy of the popular sovereignty that is a significant political issue in the western countries. Democratic governance has gained momentum in Egypt to date across the strata of the society. However, there have been challenges due to the strong ethnic groups and society practices that have slowed down a devolved type of government in Egypt. The Islamic country has been greatly accused of its violent and monolithic type of leadership that comes along with extremist groups such as the Al Queda, Muslim Brotherhood, and the Tehreek (Esposito 116). Radical movements have slowed down the democratic type of leadership due to the political unrest in the country.
Dictatorship in Egypt
Egypt has experienced dictatorship under the leadership of Hosni Muhammad for nearly three decades. Before he entered politics he was a military officer in the Egyptian Air Force. He was the vice president of Anwar Sadat who was assassinated and after 8 days Hosni assumed the presidency. He was the longest-serving ruler after Muhammad Pasha who ruled for 43 years (Esposito 172). During his tenure in office, he exercised a dictatorial type of leadership that saw many people oppressed and they rights are forsaken (Gelvin 368). During this time the Egyptians were forced to return to the Arab League. This made it the only country whose membership was suspended. There was Gulf of War in the year 1991 where Egypt participation that solidified the central role in the Arab World which brought benefits to the Egyptian government (Esposito 201).
However, Hosni governing style did not yield negative results as during this time Hosni increased affordable housing, furniture, clothing, and medicine (Esposito 136). He closely monitored the official that were under him and dismissed the ministers who were found of wrongful acts and fined them for unnecessary absences. Hosni was among the dew Egyptians officials who vowed not to visit Israel and were less enthusiastic to form a formal relation with the Israel government. However, this strained the doing of business between the two countries. Hosni also expanded his state security in order to protect his not to be assassinated just like his predecessor. He has survived numerous attempts on his life and due to this treats he exercised massive power over any people of groups that posed a threat. He ordered the bombing of Al-Gama’a al’-Islamiyya settlement that saw more than 20000 people detained in 1999 (Esposito 159). During this time there was political corruption that saw his administration rise dramatically where activists were jailed without trial in illegal undocumented and hidden detention places established (Esposito 242). There was also a violation of citizen privacy due to their political inclination and expansion of bureaucratic regulations.
Work Cited
Esposito, John L. Oxford Dictionary of Islam. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Internet resource.
Gelvin, James L. The Modern Middle East: A History. , 2005. Print. New York : Oxford University Press
