Question:
As you can see, safety fears have cancelled the World Team Squash Championship in Egypt: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/safety-fears-cause-cancellation-of-world-squash-championship-20151205-glg77f.html – so why can’t the same fears cancel the Egypt Mega projects? Not that I think it will?
Answer :
Well, first of all, obviously, the Mega-Projects Conference has al lot more at stake.
Delaying the squash championship has fewer ramifications for fewer people.
Also, it could be that the Squash championship organizers are simply aware that ticket sales may be lower than hoped because of security fears among spectators (who constitute a very different segment of the population than the participants of the economic conference).
Also, the type of tactics we have seen recently would certainly indicate a greater likelihood of an attack on a sporting event, and the night clubs, restaurants, and so on, that would potentially cater to its attendees, than an attack on a business conference.
No one has ever attacked an economic conference in Egypt, and the jihadi movement seems to remain oblivious to such events.
They appear to target locations and events which reflect their own social status and perspectives; giving strategic importance to targets which figure prominently in their own minds as being high profile and symbolic, rather than targets that require research and analysis to understand their importance.
The jihadists are generally not businessmen or economists, shareholders or investors, and they do not understand or appreciate the significance of an investor conference; whereas they probably are, or have been, sports fans.
Since the Economic Summit in Sharm el-Shaykh last March passed without incident, there is no precedent that suggests the Mega-Projects Conference could be under threat. I am not aware, in fact, of any Islamist or opposition group that has talked about it, or that is even aware of it.
External Context سياق خارجي
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/safety-fears-cause-cancellation-of-world-squash-championship-20151205-glg77f.html