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Neither 9/11 nor the Arab Spring were unexpected developments and sudden events that took everyone by surprise; there were few, well-informed and shrewd persons, who foresaw the occurrences that were about to take place. The author of the present book is one of these people, and even more importantly, he lived in Egypt from July 2001 until February 2012; having both worked with the economic, political, and administrative elite of the country and lived on daily basis among the average simple people, even those of Cairo's poorest districts (Al Zawya al Hamra, Mostorod, al Waili, Hay al Asher), he offers foresight, insight and hindsight. The first eight (out of the total nine) chapters of the book were initially published as online articles in January and February 2011; the ninth chapter, being the text of a speech given at a local association in Aswan in December 2012, clearly demonstrates how ignorant of the historical realities Egypt's Islamists were and how far the Islamist establishment of Egypt was from grasping even a minimal portion of what was at stake. The preface was written in early 2013, and the bibliography was added in 2021.
About the author
Orientalist, Historian, Political Scientist, Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis, 56, is the author of 12 books, dozens of scholarly articles, hundreds of encyclopedia entries, and thousands of articles. Greek citizen of Turkish origin, he adhered to Islam when 36, devoted to the philosophical system of Muhyieldin Ibn al Arabi.
