ABSTRACT
The overall dynamics in the Middle East are both secular and religious in nature and scope, and these need to be purposefully interconnected, within an integral polity. While the Arab Spring, as articulated by Samir Amin, is a major phenomenon in itself, its potential for helping to bring about an integral polity in Egypt may be unlikely given all the major ecological, economic, social and cultural challenges, that need to be solved first. The achievement of the Ancient Egyptians and of the Greek and Romans in classical antiquity highlights the longstanding and distinctive cultural heritage on which Egypt builds. In the Golden Age of Islam, during the later Fatimid Caliphate, Egypt was conquered and Cairo was built. It became the political, cultural, and religious centre of today's Middle East. The French conqueror Napoleon occupied Egypt from 1798 to 1801, which was a huge shock for the Arab world that thought of themselves as superior to the Western world.
