Global view

Following Footsteps of Suzanne Volquin in Egypt

As soon as Egypt reorganizes its social scene for travelers, I plan to spend time in the Copt quarter of Cairo, at the Monastery of the Franciscans, the Chateau des Chandrelles (Assai-el-Chom) and the Hospital d’Abou Zabel.

These places are associated with the 19th century French pre-socialist group known as the Saint-Simonians.  They bear this name in honor of the philosopher Henri de Saint-Simon who promoted the original idea of constructing the Suez Canal in the 18th century, along with other socially progressive concepts.

During the period 1832-1836, Suzanne Volquin (portrait at right)  and several other womenportrait of journalist and women's health advocate Saint-Simonians left France with St. Simonian men to work in Cairo and the environs, where they taught and nursed the local citizens. The composer Felician David was part of the community.  The group was decimated by a cholera outbreaks during the 1830s and many of them were buried in the Copt quarter of Cairo.  Suzanne Volquin traveled to Russia to teach mid-wifery there.  She eventually emigrated to the United States of America.

Some of the French group stayed on or returned to work with de Ferdinand de Lesseps when he took over the Suez Canal project based in Ismailia and Port Said, places I hope to visit.As many of the group members came from banking families, they later participated in structuring early funding for the canal.

My purpose is spending time in Cairo and on various historic areas related to the construction of the Suez Canal will be to explore the history and to finish my manuscript about the French women and their work to establish a clinic and school for mid-wives.

Change the Culture :: Tell the Story

The skillful manipulation of the essential story of the conflict between the U.S. with al-Qaeda has left the U.S. on the wrong side of the story.  And make no mistake, in the information age, it is all about the story that plays online, on mobile phones, television, on video and film.  Viral messaging moves images and information faster than governments can perceive, let alone respond or manage the message. Today’s message is repeated, expanded and changed as the reteller (retailer) sees fit.

The U.S. should use its considerable expertise in psychology and its thousands of highly skilled civilian psychologists (as well as military psychologists), regional cultural specialists, creative story tellers, film directors and others, to produce a sophisticated narrative to manage the information strategically to turn the story in a different direction.  It is essential to understand how to deliver the message to a culture, region and social setting that is completely different than the U.S.

The development, training and success of the Iraqi Security Force  (ISF) is another element to be managed in strategic information operations.  The image of the ISF as weak and ineffectual must change in order for the narrative to support information dominance. Delivering that message correctly requires a strategy, perhaps more difficult than training the forces. Major General (Ret.) Najim Abed Al-Jabouri, an officer in the former Iraqi Air Defense and now a Senior Fellow in the Near East South Asia Center at the National Defense University points out that “the United States fails to realize is that the ISF itself is the battleground in the larger communal struggle for power and survival. Middle Eastern concepts of civil-military relations are fundamentally different than Western ones. Western militaries have developed a culture of political control over armed forces. …this is not the established culture in either Iraq or the greater Middle East. In Iraq, there is a culture of “he who owns the security forces, owns the politics.” (Al-Jabouri, 2009)

Al-Jabouri, Najim Abed (2009, August). Iraqui Security Forces after U.S. Withdrawal: An Iraqi Perspective. Institute for National Strategic Studies  Strategic Forum No.  245.