“Egypt’s army is taking charge of billions of dollars of development aid from the United Arab Emirates, an army official said, raising further doubts over the narrow separation of powers with the military backed administration in place since July. One of several Gulf states to shower Egypt with cash and petroleum products after the army ousted elected Muslim Brotherhood president Mohammed Mursi, the UAE also looked ahead, seeking to bolster a system that could keep Islamists it sees as an existential threat from running the most populous Arab state. Alongside money to build clinics, schools and housing units, it offered to fund a project in Egypt’s strategic wheat sector–the construction of 25 wheat silos that could help the world’s biggest importer of the commodity lower its huge food bill. Bread is a politically-explosive issue in Egypt …………….”
At some point in ancient history Egypt was a breadbasket for Europe, it supplied grain and other foods to the Roman Empire. The Romans from Caesar to Anthony to Augustus coveted it for what it produced, not because they liked to visit the pyramids. As earlier did the Hyksos then the Persians then the Greeks (and Macedonians). Egypt continued to be a food-rich land for many centuries after that. Not anymore, not with the population explosion of the past few decades.
Bread (food in general) has been a politically-explosive issue in Egypt for thousands of years. The Ptolemies (Ptolemy I to Cleopatra) in Alexandria faced occasional bread riots. Probably the Pharaohs did as well. Egyptian rioters were polite (someone rude might say ‘stupid’) even in those old days: they usually made the mistake of overthrowing one Ptolemy in favor of another Ptolemy. No real change was sought: sounds familiar?
No wonder they have had only one elected leader in thousands of years, and he was overthrown in 2013 in favor of the old regime that was overthrown in 2011. Go figure.
Cheers
mhg
