In order to explain how such an irrational world-view could seem reasonable to the generals, I think it would help to analyze the particular sort of nationalism that they subscribe to. This isn't just any irrational world-view or conspiracy theory; it's specifically a nationalist one. Perhaps the key to the internal coherence and plausibility of such ideas (for the generals) lies in particular concepts of Egypt and its relation to the rest of the world.
@Moths: Here's an article on bone marrow transplants from a medical journal: "In the United States, race is often a surrogate for socioeconomic, education and health insurance status.... Race and ethnicity definitions are country-specific and reconciling race data can represent significant challenges to unrelated donor registries worldwide."
In order to explain how such an irrational world-view could seem reasonable to the generals, I think it would help to analyze the particular sort of nationalism that they subscribe to. This isn't just any irrational world-view or conspiracy theory; it's specifically a nationalist one. Perhaps the key to the internal coherence and plausibility of such ideas (for the generals) lies in particular concepts of Egypt and its relation to the rest of the world.
@Moths: Here's an article on bone marrow transplants from a medical journal: "In the United States, race is often a surrogate for socioeconomic, education and health insurance status.... Race and ethnicity definitions are country-specific and reconciling race data can represent significant challenges to unrelated donor registries worldwide."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22056642
While we're at it, here's an article debunking the concept of "Caucasian":
http://www.berfrois.com/2012/05/race-caucasian-not-so/
I think M. A. S. Abdel Haleem's recent translation of the Qur'an is excellent and very readable.