Egyptians perceived Soviet aid as a repeat of British colonial occupation
Evidence
Another comparison which is frequently made is between the Russians and the British. This is in itself rather sinister, for it means a comparison between the two powers which at one time or another have dominated and occupied Egypt. Egyptians are painfully aware that the British occupation began in cir cumstances rather similar to those which prevail now. A hundred years ago the master of Egypt was the Khedive Ismail, an ambitious and extravagant ruler who squandered vast sums on useless display at home and fruitless adventures abroad. To pay the cost, he borrowed money in Europe, and tried to curry favour with his creditors. President Nasser is seen as “the Khedive Ismail of the present time.” … Where Ismail aped West European liberal democracy, Nasser apes East Eu ropean socialism—and the one resembles its original about as closely as the other. Where Ismail ran up debts with British and French bankers, Nasser runs up debts in Eastern Europe, and the result could well be the same. Already the Soviet Embassy in Cairo is conducting itself in much the same way as the British Residency in the old days, and the Russian Ambassador is behaving, so I was told, “like a High Commissioner.” Egyptians are caustic on the subject of Nasser’s speeches about the selfless generosity of the Russians and their unwillingness to ask for anything in return for their aid. “Why should they ask for anything,” someone remarked, “when they get all they want without asking?” The Russians have not yet established a real military presence, but they are moving rapidly and dangerously in that direction. Egyptians feel that their independence is now in real danger, that they may be seeing the beginnings of a Russian occupation which will be harsher and, above all, longer than the British one. … Egyptians like to quote the story of the Arab general Amr Ibn el-As, who conquered Egypt thirteen centuries ago. He expected the Caliph in Arabia to appoint him governor of the country, but the Caliph only offered him the com mand of the troops in Egypt, while another man became governor. Amr refused this command, in the memorable phrase: “Why should I hold the cow’s horns while someone else milks her?” The British, too, came to Egypt for milk. The Russians, it is feared, may want beef. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1302
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to Orientalism and Said-adjacent scholarship on how Egyptians read great-power patronage through colonial memory, and to decolonization histories like those on Nasser-era Egypt.
- SHARE: The Amr Ibn el-As cow-horns aphorism and the milk-vs-beef gloss distill a whole colonial encounter into one image — good for someone into Arab political history.