Criticisms against the West, which does not call a coup a “coup,” are highly inconsistent. It is ironic that the apostle-of-democracy type objections about the West’s double standards arise from those who believe themselves to settling accounts with the West.

Yes, there is, and has always been, a contradiction between the West’s discourse and its realpolitik. The fact that the children of a region which has been abused by the West for at least a few centuries have emerged with the discovery of a double standard is, at the least, shallow and insubstantial.

The rise of the West, or— to put it more accurately— the hegemonic position it has reached in the non-Western world, cannot be explained by excluding the militaristic dimension of the claims of Western civilization, including the US, to supposed universal values such as science and technology. Therefore, the rise of the West cannot be explained without imperialism; and imperialism cannot be explained before the establishment of Europe’s own internal balances. Egypt is one of the places historically embodying these objectives.

Egypt is a country which the West has romanticized while simultaneously trying to rid itself of the its latent complex, and is also the key country for the construction of the European Union, i.e. New Rome. There are few countries which host so many contradictions within relative historical continuity as Egypt does. This conflict is of course the ancient contradiction of the West.

One of the intense symbolic references witnessed during the 50th anniversary celebrations of the European Union was a beer mug depicting the French defeat of the Ottoman Empire, gifted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to then French President Jacques Chirac. The 18th century beer mug had a relief displaying Napoleon’s victory against the Ottomans through his invasion of Egypt.

In discussions of France’s capture of European leadership, the idea of the necessity of invading Egypt holds a crucial place. The European peace vision of Leibniz, who went to Paris in 1672, places great weight on the famous “Egypt plan.” According to the suggestion he made to Louis the 14th, the most effective way of ensuring peace in Europe was to capture Ottoman-ruled Egypt under the leadership of France. The proposition by many post-Leibniz European thinkers and politicians that European unity can be achieved through the invasion of Egypt by common European armies is indeed interesting.

However much of an exoticized touristic meaning has been installed, since Egyptian ancient history threatens the fiction of European civilization’s Greek origins, it makes reference to a history which they avoid confronting due to its being a reminder of the past. Athena, which is considered as one of the three pillars of Western civilization is deemed as Greek civilization. The modern West formulates its roots according to Greek philosophy, Roman law and Christianity (Jerusalem).

However, by ignoring the Asian and African influence of Greek origins, the Euro-centric reading of the history of civilization is replete with fragmenting, fictional and racist elements within itself. One of the exceptional works challenging the foundations of Western civilization is Nartin Bernal’s ‘Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization.’ This work challenges the current paradigm by refuting the Aryan racist definition of Western civilization as originating in Greece, and by arguing that ancient Greek roots fed from Egyptian civilization and Greece was much more influenced by Egypt than assumed.

What does this historical background have to do with the military coup in Egypt? No claim-possessing state or civilization assesses its current agenda independent of historical experience; it draws no long-term plan by ignoring the historical perspective. Just as this situation does not, as is perceived by us, entail being stuck in history and detached from life, it is rather the sine qua non for the construction of the future.

As the European Union, in spite of its competition with the United States, shows persistence is not calling it a coup, one perception of Egypt emerges from the composition of all these historical, cultural, geo-strategic and economic elements. Although the US, which took over the global Roman mission, may be may be more pragmatic, it is not completely independent of this shared origin.

Egypt is a very good laboratory for those who find the ‘new imperialism’ concept to be overly provocative!

Yes, ruling Egypt by exoticizing it or encountering the face of ‘Black Athens” in the mirror may provoke complex emotions for the West. Yet this complication does not disappear with the insubstantial detection which shallowly points out double standards.

These contradictions are simultaneously a sign that Egypt cannot be held captive for long under the management of the Pharaoh. The problem will be centered on what kind of operation the Muslim Brotherhood will be subjected to during this process.

�lgili Yaz�larEnglish