A War Between Two Worlds

Stratfor ^ | January 13, 2015 | George Friedman

[arthurus]

We've spoken of borderlands, and how they are both linked and divided. Here is a border sea, differing in many ways but sharing the basic characteristic of the borderland. Proximity separates as much as it divides. It facilitates trade, but also war. For Europe this is another frontier both familiar and profoundly alien.

Islam invaded Europe twice from the Mediterranean — first in Iberia, the second time in southeastern Europe, as well as nibbling at Sicily and elsewhere. Christianity invaded Islam multiple times, the first time in the Crusades and in the battle to expel the Muslims from Iberia. Then it forced the Turks back from central Europe. The Christians finally crossed the Mediterranean in the 19th century, taking control of large parts of North Africa. Each of these two religions wanted to dominate the other. Each seemed close to its goal. Neither was successful. What remains true is that Islam and Christianity were obsessed with each other from the first encounter. Like Rome and Egypt they traded with each other and made war on each other.

[cuban leaf]

Several months ago I started calling Muslims “Klingons”. It is a conversation starter when someone asks what you mean or why you said it.

It is literally a culture clash between two cultures based on completely incompatible core values. They can not coexist.

[cripplecreek]

As far as I'm concerned Turkey needs to be booted out of NATO. I'm having a lot of trouble seeing how different Erdoğan is from Ahmadinejad.

[agere_contra]

This article is rife with sleazy moral equivalence.

The Crusades were a defensive war against Islam. The Muslims had taken vast amounts of Christian territory before the First Crusade.

If nothing else, the Crusades stopped Jihad in its tracks.

[Sam Gamgee]

Which is why Sobieski, Charles the Hammer, and Vlad the Impaler (as imperfect as he was) will forever be heroes for me. The West owes a lot to the East (Poland, Romania, ect) that basically kept us safe (and ignorant at times) from the threat banging at our door.

Islam took advantage of the downfall of the Roman Empire, and the constant fighting between Byzantium and Persia. Persia was quickly overwhelmed and conquered by Mohammed's successors. The Ottomans (thankfully) made an error siding with Germany in WWI, as it lead to the final downfall of the caliphate. In the depths of their hearts Muslims want their caliphate to return.

[Excellence]

I think they’re more like Romulans.

[Sam Gamgee]

I'd say there is a lot to criticize about what became the Catholic Church, but that criticism lies more with the vicious prejudice they held against all realms that did not come under papal dominance. The first Ivan for instance had to defend Novgorod against so called Christians from the West, who could not bear another form of Christianity, Eastern Orthodox, that was different from their own. The damage we did to ourselves in Christendom made us weakened lambs for the slaughter. Thankfully Islam itself fell into its own civil wars, and may be want thankfully gave the West time to ultimately defend itself.

[arthurus]

Persia may not have been conquered but rather made a deal see:

Mohammed and Charlemagne

and here

[arthurus]

Friedman is describing the situation on the ground. He is factually correct. The Crusades were, in fact, invasions. D-Day was also an Invasion and, like the Crusades was defensive. All of the wars against Islam have been in response to attacks and invasions by Moslems.