The army was the central institution underpinning Mehmed Ali’s entire regime.

Evidence

Together, these two developments, the introduction and cultivation on a large scale of long-staple cotton and the building of a modern army, formed the twin pillars of the Pasha’s regime and none of the other institutions that Egypt witnessed during the first half of the nineteenth century parallels their importance. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 75

Categorization

• DEFINE: Establishes the book’s core thesis that army and cotton formed the regime’s twin pillars.