The Italian concepts of the "fourth shore" and "vital space" however, we well known; there's a reason the Senussi had been driven out of Libya and into Egypt.
Likewise, the Italian conquest of Ethiopia was all of six years earlier; any Egyptian who thought the Italians were simply coming for a visit would be deluding themselves. Italian war aims included linking Libya with Italian East Africa; what lies between the two?
It was a unique situation where Il Duce was going to ride in on a white horse if Egypt was taken, but in the end at this point he had been forced to rely on too much German help so the Germans would end up giving Egypt as much or as little political Independence from Italy as they wanted.
The war in the desert was a very unique part of World War 2 that doesn't fit into any clear category, hence I why I believe Hollywood hasn't touched it since 1970. One can imagine the Arab response to various sets of Christian powers trying to get them to wage jihad for them on other Christian powers.