The Orientalist became an agent of Western power when he began advising governments

Evidence

Probably—and this is only a speculation—the convergence occurred when Orientalists, beginning with Sacy, undertook to advise governments on what the modern Orient was all about. Here the role of the specially trained and equipped expert took on an added dimension: the Orientalist could be regarded as the special agent of Western power as it attempted policy vis-à-vis the Orient. Every learned (and not so learned) European traveler in the Orient felt himself to be a representative Westerner who had gotten beneath the films of obscurity. — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 559

Categorization

• XREF: The model of the expert as ‘special agent of Western power’ connects directly to later readings on how expertise and area studies serve imperial administration.
• SEED: Angle: tracing how academic ‘expertise’ has historically functioned as a conduit for imperial policy — from Sacy to modern think-tank advisors on the Middle East.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 559