ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the processes involved in international political manoeuvres, and provides an analysis which resists a straight forward dichotomy of the West versus the Rest but, rather, focuses on the intricacy of power relations that always take place within unequal power relations. Contemporary accounts of Egypt tend to emphasise the invidious role of the British in its effective control of the country, the difficulties of living under the Egyptian monarchy before its ousting in 1952 and the persistent struggle of being a full citizen under the Mubarak regime. A vicious cycle of humiliation was perpetuated: attempts were made to fend off vulnerability, brutality was perpetuated and there was an attempt to make good the seemingly damaging insult to a nation's dignity. In any case both socio-political systems uphold freedom. For the West it is the freedom to choose, and for Islamic societies it centres on freedom from oppression and continuing colonisation.
