In Egypt and Morocco nothing has gotten worse, only perhaps better, its just that you obviously have no comparative knowledge of what these places have been like in the past. Bali? What happened, a sleepy restaurant owner ask you into his place? A elderly woman too aggressive in trying to sell you beads? Wuss.

747, yeah but Lagos is a totally different prospect than what this guy is talking about. I've had armed military escorts in places like Bandah Aceh, Cambodia and other "pearls", but there was a real insurgency going on at the time.

To answer the question however in a place like Egypt if you are too bothered at an especially bad location......the Pyramids, Khan Al-Khalili, etc. the best strategy is to just find the nearest seller of something thats pestering you(Papyrus, Fragrances, whatever) and who speaks decent English and tell him you'll give him $2 to keep everyone ELSE away from you for the next hour or whatever.