Wendell calls this a "unified picture of Egypt's man- ifest destiny in Africa." He states that,"as one of the civilized nations of the world, Egypt takes her place alongside Europe, and the less developed peo- ples of the southern Sudan especially, are held up to criticism as examples of improvidence, shiftlessness, and technical and social backwardness." So, in its passivity as the object of Egyptian imperialism, the Sudan played a cru- cial role in helping Egyptians define and maintain their cultural, historical, political, economic, and geographic integrity. The dreamed-of Egypt, in its active domination of the Sudan, was therefore as much an ancient state as it was a state that would be realized in the future, when it was to achieve par- ity with Europe. A new geography was created, based on measurements of time and development.

Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Coloni…, loc. 237