+ With over 6000 years of history, Egypt’s culture is oriented to its past as much as it is oriented to its present. If you are a business traveler, build time in your schedule for sightseeing. Egyptians are proud of their culture and heritage and enjoy arranging tours for visitors. Do not consider such excursions a waste of time.

+ Kinship and familial ties play an all-important role in Egyptian social relations. The individual is subordinate to the family, tribe or group. The family often has more importance than business, and nepotism is viewed positively since it is patronage of one’s family.

+ In Egypt, a person’s promise is considered his or her bond, and to go back on one’s word is to bring dishonor to one’s entire family.

+ For an Arab country, Egypt has a relatively progressive attitude towards women’s rights. Many women work in business, although seldom in senior management positions. A high proportion of women are employed as doctors, dentists, lawyers, professors, diplomats, ministers and high officials.

+ Egyptians require little physical distance between speakers of the same sex. Men widen the gap considerably when speaking to a woman. They generally stand further away than you are accustomed to in your own culture. Attempting to close the gap could upset your Egyptian colleague, make him question your intentions, and jeopardize your business relationship.

+ Modify your speech pattern if you come from a culture that is direct and to the point. Arabic is a language of hyperbole.

+ Egyptians use indirect, circular, and ambiguous language rife with emotion. Although mirroring their speech pattern would be insulting, it is a good idea to temper directness. Your goal is to get your point across and this happens more readily if you speak in a manner that does not sound harsh and offensive to the listener.

- from RW3′s CultureWizard® Country Profiles

RW-3.com

An impressive display of forward-thinking youths in Alexandria garnered the Wall Street Journal’s attention earlier this month during the height of anti-Mubarak protests.

According to the article, “…Egyptian youths held hands last week to form a human cordon around the massive [library of Alexandria]…”

According to the library’s director, Ismail Serageldin, the Bibliotheca Alexandria, its formal Latin name, “has proved to be a key tool in ‘a battle for the hearts and minds’ of Egyptians, and whose programs served as a catalyst for the current civic unrest. ‘We’re spreading the values of democracy, freedom of expression, tolerance, diversity and pluralism that…are taking root in the young generation.’”

The library is a bastion of the values the Egyptian youth embodies, values towards which the country has made great progress over the past few weeks. It’s unique collection of material is described below:

Young people, scholars and gaping foreign tourists frequent the building to gain access to materials that are hard to come by in Arab countries. The collection, though far from complete, includes volumes critical of Islam, others dealing with gays and lesbians, and books that offer contrasting views on Zionism and Israeli affairs. Even the works of Salman Rushdie are available, though these are kept on closed stacks to prevent them from being destroyed by vandals, as are art-history volumes containing nudes.

Egypt’s population structure, where 52.3% are under the age of 25 (according to this interactive map from The Economist), and the relative influence of its youth is another important topic to note from a cultural point of view. Their exposure to the internet and the growing popularity of social media has connected Egyptian youth in a way previous generations could never connect. Virtual networks facilitate more open exchange of ideas, commiseration over politics and friendships with people all over the world have surely contributed to the surge of support that eventually led to an organized protestation.

Protesters at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina

The library, too had a role to play in this: “We taught a lot of these kids who are demonstrating how to use computers, how to use social media, and I’m glad to see it’s put to good use,” said Sohair Wastawy, a former chief librarian.

How else will the youth’s culture, vision and determination impact the trajectory of Egypt’s future? How is their world view changing Egyptian culture?

Sean

RW3 CultureWizard