Meeting people in Mallawi

Given the recent violence, and all the rumors about foreign agents, it seemed reasonable to assume that people in Mallawi would be suspicious. It also seemed reasonable to become suspicious of an American who showed up alone in a brand-new car, asked questions in Arabic about Islamist mobs, and then, after meeting a merchant from Qingtian, began speaking Chinese. But there was no indication that anybody reacted in this manner. The people in Malawi always greeted me warmly, and the police never bothered to talk to me.
Egyptian conspiracy theories seemed to function best if enemies remained at a distance. It was similar to djinn and the 'afrit: the conspiracy theories were expressions of helplessness, and they also allowed for denial of responsibility. It wasn't locals; it couldn't be locals; why would locals do such a thing? Even the foreigner was transformed once he appeared in a familiar setting. Egyptians are naturally open and friendly, and people in Mallawi probably sensed that it would be unpleasant if they applied the conspiracy theory to the real-life individual who stood infant of them, speaking their language. He wasn't an agent, he couldn't be an agent, why would an agent do such a thing? On every visit, I parked behind the burned-out BMW, and the men happily escorted me back to Mr. Ye and his wife. Nobody was the least bit wary of the Chinese. If anything, the people at the m'arad seemed protective of this strange little couple who had appeared at their bend in the river. 
At this point, Peter has formed his idea about how and why of Egyptian's conspiracy theories. In his understanding, this is 'expression of helplessness', like an excuse to make onself feel better and trying to persuade oneself there's a deeper reason behind despite one doesn't necessarily understand. One thing I'm not sure about in this conclusion that Peter has drawn is that, whether in this statement, it inherited a sense of top-down gaze, how people from the US would portrait people in a politically unstable developing country... which of course I hope not. 
Upon reading till this page, as a Chinese reader of Peter, I'm relieved to see that finally Chinese characters have shown up and this would definitely encourage me to carry on reading.