[quote=@Letter Bee]
Question: Is it acceptable to ask for a preset relationship in this OOC Channel? I might decide to play Egypt after all, but I need one or two European patrons who are willing to tolerate Muhammad Ali's Egyptian Nationalism in exchange for relatively cheap Cotton and other goods...

Made a minor edit.
[/quote]

The Decembrist Government would have a keen interest in what Egypt would be up to since it adds a new dimension to Russia's southern borders. The Ottomans had been their historical rival in the region against places like the Crimean Khanate and Circassia and the two fought a whole lot of wars over the region. With Ottoman control over the Black Sea via the Bosporus, any geopoliticking in the region would be of heavy interest - in simple terms, a weaker Ottoman state is basically always a good thing to the Russians. 

Persia would likewise be rising to prominence in the Middle East as a regional power but itself would be beset by the fact that it is surrounded on near all sides by 3 suspicious-to-outwardly-hostile Great Powers (i.e. Ottomans, Russia, and Great Britain). Anything that might draw intrigue away from them might be viewed more as a more positive development and if Egypt is in a position to nudge their way into Persian influence, all the better.

The Caucasian region at this time wasn't really in any centralized power and was often delegated to regional Khanates or kingdoms, and it wouldn't be until the 1860s OTL that the region would be incorporated firmly into Russia proper though establishment of governance channels (and whenever that failed, copious amounts of shooting people that [i]definitely[/i] didn't build long-lasting blood feuds that go on even to this very day). So anything that might draw attention of dudes like Persia or the Ottomans elsewhere while the new government decides just what to do with these places would be very welcome. 

So overall, the Decembrists and the Tsardom alike (insofar that his opinion matters for much longer) would have serious strategic interests in propping up Egypt as a potential power in the region to act as a check against both long-standing rivals (Ottomans & The UK) and rising powers (Persia) - how much help they can realistically provide is just sort of up in the air by this point.