[BLANK_AUDIO] Welcome to our second lesson in our course on the emergence of the modern Middle East. Today we deal with a question of modernity and tradition, and the age of reform. Last time we spoke about the impact of Europe at the end of the 18th and the early 19th century, this led to an extended period of reform that continued throughout the 19th century. And it was characterized by a continuing struggle between the forces of modernity and tradition. Reforms related, first of all, to the military. But reforms in the military very soon led to reforms spreading to all spheres of life. And not only the lifestyle changed, not only the economy changed, but reform also changed the world of ideas. The centers of reform that we will deal with are two. The Ottoman Empire and Egypt. And the question could, of course, be asked, if the Ottoman Empire and Egypt were essentially the same political entity, why are we discussing them separately? We discuss them separately, first of all, because Egypt from the Napoleonic era onwards, and under Muhammad Ali, as we have seen, gradually emerged as a separate political entity. They're also very different. They have geo-strategic differences that influenced the age of reform, and the pace of reform. This relates to the geographic structure of the Ottoman Empire on the one hand, and of Egypt, on the other. Egypt is very, unique. Egypt is the land of the Nile Valley. Egypt by its very nature is a very centralized entity. The people of Egypt for thousands of years have lived along the Nile River. The people of Egypt are the people of the Nile Valley. By its very nature, it tends to be a very cen-, centralized political entity. The Ottoman Empire, on the other hand, was very different. Not very centralized. A huge territorial entity, with many local powers that enjoyed a great deal of influence. And therefore, reform in the Ottoman Empire was much more difficult to implement, was less consistent than it was in Egypt with its highly centralized structure. The Ottomans were also mainly preoccupied by military needs. They were engaged in the development of a huge military force because of the empire's endless participation in war throughout the 19th century. This was not true of Egypt, and therefore, reforms had varying results. They moved faster and further in Egypt than they did in the Ottoman Empire.