Traditional Bedouin woman in an Egyptian village.jpg

The regularity and richness of the annual Nile River flood, coupled with semi-isolation provided by deserts to the east and west, allowed for the development of one of the world's great civilizations. A unified kingdom arose circa 3200 B.C., and a series of dynasties ruled in Egypt for the next three millennia.

The last native dynasty fell to the Persians in 341 B.C., who in turn were replaced by the Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines. It was the Arabs who introduced Islam and the Arabic language in the 7th century and who ruled for the next six centuries. A local military caste, the Mamluks took control about 1250 and continued to govern after the conquest of Egypt by the Ottoman Turks in 1517. Following the completion of the Suez Canal in 1869, Egypt became an important world transportation hub, but also fell heavily into debt.

Ostensibly to protect its investments, Britain seized control of Egypt's government in 1882, but nominal allegiance to the Ottoman Empire continued until 1914. Partially independent from the UK in 1922, Egypt acquired full sovereignty with the overthrow of the British-backed monarchy in 1952. The completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1971 and the resultant Lake Nasser have altered the time-honored place of the Nile River in the agriculture and ecology of Egypt. A rapidly growing population (the largest in the Arab world), limited arable land, and dependence on the Nile all continue to overtax resources and stress society. The government has struggled to meet the demands of Egypt's growing population through economic reform and massive investment in communications and physical infrastructure.

A wealthy Egyptian businessman and lawmaker, Hisham Talaat Moustafa was charged with paying $2 million for the contract killing of a well-known Lebanese pop star who was found dead in her apartment in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in July.

The arrest of the tycoon, one of the nation’s largest real estate developers and a member of President Hosni Mubarak’s governing National Democratic Party, represents the ever widening gulf between the ruling class and the rest of Egypt.

Egypt’s young working classes, like those all over the Middle East are being forced to put off marriage, independence, sexual activity and societal respect. Stymied by the government’s failure to provide adequate schooling, and thwarted by an economy without jobs to match their abilities or aspirations, they are stuck between youth and adulthood.

In their frustration, the young are turning to religion for solace and purpose, pulling their parents and their governments along with them.

With 60 percent of the region’s population under the age of 25, this youthful religious fervor has enormous implications for the Middle East. More than ever, Islam has become the cornerstone of identity, replacing other failed ideologies such as Arabism, socialism and nationalism.

Egypt’s problems along its border with Israel continue to increase. Incursions in the Gaza Strip as well as arms trafficking create diplomatic problems. As a result Israel is seeing Egypt as part of the problem rather than the solution.

With US President Obama’s recent visit, Egypt is asking itself who will succeed the agent President Mubarak, who seems to have made no clear plans for succession. That transition will present newl opportunities for violence or peace in Egypt and in the region.