Most political thinkers have a list of priorities that they feel committed to writing about; in my case, the key priority is definitely that of building a strong Egyptian interior: a healthy society with a substantial middle class, a stable economy, progressive education, and a cultural environment that keeps abreast of the times; a society that, moreover, maintains a thorough knowledge of and pride in its history and heritage (though without falling into the trap of worshipping the past). And to those with other priorities heading their lists, I would say that none of them can be achieved without first establishing a strong, stable, prosperous interior. There are those who dream of a successful pan-Arab national project, but this can never be realized without first establishing a robust Egyptian interior; others dream of Egypt 's playing a prominent regional or even international role, again I repeat: this can never happen until Egypt is strong, stable and prosperous from within. This is a prerequisite for the fulfillment of any of our other aims or aspirations.

In spite of my admiration for Mohamed Ali, whom most scholars, researchers and writers commonly refer to as "the founder of modern Egypt", it is an undeniable fact that his involvement with external issues distracted him from his primary mission of building an Egypt that was strong internally, with disastrous results that had far-reaching repercussions. If only Mohamed Ali had concentrated his efforts on strengthening the country from within, Egypt would have been well equipped to play the pivotal role that is its due by virtue of its geographical, historic and cultural distinctiveness. Conversely, this insistence on focusing on issues other than building a strong interior systematically erodes any efforts made internally, a state of affairs which has been consistently repeated throughout the history of modern Egypt .

One of Egypt 's biggest problems is that numerous factors entice it to get involved in matters outside its borders. The problem does not lie in its involvement per se, but rather in the fact that Egypt takes this role upon itself without first completing its primary, sacred objective of building a strong, stable and prosperous interior. This haste ultimately and inevitably leads to two disastrous outcomes: the failure of most of its external missions, and a serious delay in the internal building process.

It is my unswerving conviction that the most important task facing us today is to concentrate all our efforts upon achieving a strong, progressive, prosperous and stable interior that is, moreover, in perfect harmony with its past and its present. This can only be achieved with an all-out campaign in which we all join forces to instill and disseminate the values of progress amongst all those occupying key positions and hence serving as role models, and simultaneously establishing an effective educational system whose prime mission would be to infuse the minds of the sons and daughters of Egypt with these values. I must add that this task will be impossible to achieve unless we bring about a radical change in the religious communication being disseminated (whether Muslim or Christian), for it is an undeniable fact that religious teachings, together with the media, remain the most important factors influencing public opinion in Egypt .

There are those who dream of Egypt as it was before 1952; some pine for Nasser 's Egypt ; others for the days of Sadat. A thinker who can keep his emotions in check and judge impartially and rationally would choose the quality of the middle class that existed in pre-1952 days but not the scarcity of its numbers - or the masses of people who lived below the poverty line in pitiful conditions that are a disgrace to us all. From the Egypt of the Fifties and Sixties, its dream of an extensive middle class resting upon a solid economic and cultural base. From the Sadat era, the supremacy of dialogue and rational thinking in some cases (I repeat, in some cases).

I write this in the firm belief that wasting time in recriminations and in censuring and condemning others is an exercise in futility. Rather, let us bring about a state of reconciliation between those of different views, bearing in mind that this can only be achieved by launching a comprehensive initiative to instill and disseminate the values of progress. Let us view the different stages of our history with objectivity and without exaggerating the advantages and disadvantages of each phase – again, this will not be possible except in a cultural and educational environment in which the values of progress have been implanted.

The biggest challenge facing Egypt today concerns the middle class, who have been - and are still being - subjected to a bewildering plethora of economic, educational and cultural dynamics that have led to the point where one is hard put to define what exactly constitutes the middle class in Egypt today. Real progress in any society is not contingent upon the existence of an upper class of high caliber, but depends rather upon the quality, size and caliber of its middle class, which again is inextricably linked to the extent to which the values of progress are implanted in this vital sector of society.

To sum up, we cannot begin to solve Egypt 's problems without first creating an environment imbued with the values of progress. Then, and only then, will Egypt 's role beyond its borders become a reality and indeed an uncontestable right: for Egypt is historically, geographically and culturally the only Middle Eastern country equipped to assume the role of leader in the region - but only after first establishing a strong and progressive interior.