“Egypt is the most important country in the world,” Napoléon
Bonaparte said in his fi rst interview with the governor of St.
Helena, where he was imprisoned after his fi nal defeat in 1815. This
sounds grandiose, but Egypt does rank high among the countries of the
world for its longevity as a civilization, the roles it has played in history,
and its strategic location. Most people in the world have heard of it. No
doubt Egypt owes its fame in part to its historic infl uence over other
civilizations and countries. We may include the infl uence of pharaonic
Egypt on the ancient Hebrews, Mesopotamians, and Syrians, and on
classical Greece and Rome. It appears often in both the Bible and the
Quran. Egypt has been a leading player in the history of Islam, at times
as its political leader, usually as a trading entrepot, and almost always
as a religious and cultural center. Modern Egypt is the most populous
Arab state, and it has led the Arabs in education, literature, music,
architecture, cinema, radio, and television. Its capital, Cairo, is the largest city in Africa and in the Arab world, and it hosts the headquarters
of the Arab League. Hardly any Middle Eastern political issue, from the
War on Terror to the Arab-Israeli Confl ict, can be addressed without
considering Egypt.