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Sheldon Anderson
“Cultural Interactions between Europe and the Islamic World”
January 30, 2014
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gelvin, James L. "Two Surprises: Algeria and Syria." In The Arab Uprisings: What Everyone Needs to Know, 93-‐118. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Greene, Molly. "Resurgent Islam: 1500-‐1700." In The Mediterranean in History, by David Abulafia, 219-‐234. Los Angeles: J Paul Getty Museum Publications, 2003.
Hokayem, Emile. "The regional struggle over Syria." In Syria's Uprising and the Fracturing of the Levant, 105-‐148. London: Routledge, 2013.
Izzo, Jean-‐Claude. Total Chaos. New York: Europa Editions, 2005.
Kepel, Gilles. "The Battle for Europe." In The War for Muslim Minds, 241-‐287. Cambridge: Belknap Press, 2004.
Larrabee, F. Stephen. "Turkey's New Geopolitics." Survival 52, no. 2 (April-‐May 2010): 157-‐180.
Maalouf, Amin. Leo Africanus. Chicago: New Amsterdam Books, 1992.
Turkish Guide to History “The Cradle of Civilization.”
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INTRODUCTION
When one begins the study of Europe and its interaction with the Islamic
World, they are exposed to a rather large historiography on the military
campaigns fought between the Christian Empires of Europe and various Muslim
Empires. It is true that these two faiths have been at war since the time of Abu
Bakr, the first of the Rashidun or “rightly guided caliphs,” but it should be known
that the cultural interaction between Europe and the Islamic world has since its
beginning, been broad in nature. Expanding the literature beyond military
campaigns exposes students to a number of themes that help to explain various
aspects of this cultural interaction. One such theme is how a certain individual or
specific event can alter the relations between Europe and the Islamic world.
Militarily, it is important to understand that the empire or country that held the
technological advantage had the superior military and would fair better in battle.
As mentioned earlier, this cultural interaction also spread beyond the battlefield
to economics through trade and commerce. Finally, one of the most common
themes that is still important today is the question of identity and its effect on
domestic and foreign policy. These themes help depict the interaction between
Europe and the Islamic world as more than just centuries of warfare where power
and land transferred back and forth.
EFFECTS OF INDIVIDUALS & EVENTS
Throughout history, a “new era” is ushered in by the ascension of a certain
person to power or by a catastrophic event that seems to change an entire
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society or region. In these two situations, the way in which the governments of
nation-states, countries or empires interact with not only one another but with
their own population, can be clearly distinguished from the previous policies. The
cultural interaction between Europe and the Islamic world provides copious
examples supporting this claim for both the importance of certain people and of
specific events and how these affect relations. After the attacks of September 11,
2001, the foreign policy of the United States was dramatically changed. It
seemed like overnight, the Department of Homeland Security was established
and the “Global War on Terror” became one of our most vital national interests.
Across the Atlantic, countries like France, Italy and the Netherlands sought to
dismantle al-Qaeda groups within their respective countries, as the previous two
decades saw Islamic terrorist attacks on the European continent.
Following the March 2004 Madrid bombings and British discovery of
explosives in London, it became evident that “Europe had emerged as the
primary battlefield on which the future of global Islam would be decided,”
according to Gilles Kepel in The War for Muslim Minds. These events exposed
the vulnerability of European societies to Islamic extremism that began to
manifest among people that had nationalized or were born citizens of a European
country. Governments across Europe were forced to change their policy towards
ethnic/cultural diversity in the population with some promoting integration instead
of multiculturalism as in the United Kingdom and France. There were also the
shifts in policy, which included stricter immigration laws; the prohibition of
religious symbols in school as well the refusal of asylum to Islamic radicals, even
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if they were pro-Western. Not only did government policy regarding its own
population diversity change, but also many European governments associated
themselves more with the United States in the international arena. These shifts in
foreign policy perpetuated if not created a divide between Western countries and
the Arab and/or Islamic countries in the post-9/11 world.
As mentioned before, the events of March 2004 were only some of many
events that have occurred, which have altered cultural interactions between
Europe and the Islamic world. Amin Maalouf’s Leo Africanus depicts this theme a
handful of times and despite being fiction, one can assume that the events had
widespread consequences. One event witnessed by the narrator, Hasan, is the
fall of his home, Grenada, in 1492 during the Spanish Reconquista. The years
following the fall of Granada saw mass immigration across the Straits of Gibraltar
to the still Islamic Maghreb. For those that did not want to leave their homeland,
they could remain but under submission to the Christian empire of Castille and
Leon. Despite the presence of an Islamic influence since the early 8th century,
two distinct cultures would develop on the northern and southern coasts of the
Mediterranean in the coming centuries.
Another important event witnessed during the fictitious life of Hasan was
the devastation of Cairo, first by the Black Death and then at the hands of the
Ottoman Sultan, Selim I. Following the siege of Cairo, Selim agreed to spare the
city only to have a rebellion occur that pushed the Turks into the Arab Peninsula.
The embarrassment suffered by and merciless fashion of the rebellion led Selim
to rally his Turks and slowly retake the lost ground. This time, when Selim
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entered Cairo, he indiscriminately massacred the population prompting Hasan
and his family to flee. This fictionalized account of the conquest of Cairo by the
Turks depicts an extreme reaction to an event as well as the way in which one
person can reshape cultural interactions. Selim’s response to the rebellion was to
ensure that no one, whether in Cairo or another part of his empire would rise up
against him. The massacre was a sign to those that thought of questioning
Selim’s rule and/or power. Beyond the massacre, Selim’s decision to invade the
Mameluke Empire in the first place is a great example of how a single person
with enough power can redefine the politics of a region. At the time of the
invasion, there were no open hostilities so it was believed that Selim took
advantage of the weakness of Cairo following the plagues in order to consolidate
his influence over the Maghreb and gain control over the spice trade routes.
An important example of the effect that an individual can have can be
seen in President Bashar al-Assad’s response to the Arab Uprising and anti-
government uprisings in Syria. In the months following the self-immolation in
Tunisia, anti-government protests had spread across North Africa and into Syria.
The uprisings in Syria developed differently as Hafiz al-Assad “coup-proofed”
Syria during the 1970s by establishing relations between the Alawite political and
military elite and Sunni businessmen. Since his election in 2000, Bashar’s
reputation as a reformer can be seen in the introduction of a “social market
economy” in Syria, which included the privatization of government assets.
According to James Gelvin’s The Arab Uprising, the Syrian regime took the
carrot-and-stick approach to the uprising like other regimes facing uprisings.
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Gelvin states that the carrots offered were “too little, too late” and more
importantly, “the stick had been applied with a brutality that rivals the Libyan
regime’s war against its people.” The security forces of the Assad regime and the
military were tightly interwoven and remained united behind the regime, which
became important as the anti-government protests spread and became violent.
This unified front of the Assad regime and the military would respond to uprisings
in increasingly vicious ways, even going as far as to use terrorism on their own
people. Despite international condemnation, the UN Security Council, United
States and the European Union all chose to not intervene as they had in Libya.
Gelvin believes that “no international actor really wants to face the risk of an
unstable or fragmented Syria such as might follow the collapse of the regime.”
Even as Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan began supporting the opposition and
publically called for Bashar al-Assad to step down, the brutal suppression
continued because the Assad regime knew there would not be foreign
intervention. The Assad regime, especially under Bashar, had provided stability
for the region as it suppressed sectarian violence, maintained peace with Israel,
and even built an alliance with Iran. These factors and many more have secured
the Assad regime’s grasp of power for fear of sectarian and/or ethnic violence
spreading throughout the Middle East or even the establishment of a democratic
government that repositions Syria to the United States and the West. Soon after,
the entire country had descended into civil war altering regional politics and
eventually international politics as well.
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A final example of an event that can affect both foreign and domestic
policies would be the Syrian Civil War. As mentioned above, the uprisings in
Syria met the iron fist of the Assad regime, which helped the opposition garner
support. This strengthened Assad’s resolve to crush the opposition pushing Syria
into a civil war. Early in the conflict, Turkey and Qatar, as close allies of Assad,
hoped to broker a political settlement, which would increase their influence
throughout the region. According to Emile Hokayem, by the summer, the Gulf
position “hardened as regime repression garnered media attention and violence
increased, especially during the holy month of Ramadan,” culminating in Turkey,
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain breaking diplomatic relations with Syria.
The civil war created regional instability as the Alawite-Assad regime was
supported by Shi’a Iran against predominantly Sunni opposition aided by Turkey,
Saudi Arabia and Islamic extremists. The conflict also contributed to the
fracturing of Iraq, which aided both sides. Turkey and the Arab states appealed
to the United Nations for intervention where it found support from the United
States, France and the United Kingdom to varying degrees. Unfortunately, the
other two members of the Security Council, Russia and China, threatened to veto
any action as Russia was militarily helping Assad and China denounces foreign
intervention. Without unanimity, the United Nations was unable to authorize
foreign intervention and the Assad regime could carry on its fight to end the civil
war. The Syrian Civil War would eventually spillover into Lebanon and created
border conflicts with all of Syria’s neighbors in addition to propagation of ethnic
and sectarian violence. The conflict has strained relations between the Western
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states (Europe and the United States) and Middle East; Europe and Turkey;
Turkey and Iran; Syria and its Arab neighbors; Syria and Israel and on and on.
MILITARY SUPERIORITY I.E. TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANTAGE
As much as a person or a significant event can influence the cultural
interaction between Europe and the Islamic world, it can be equally influenced or
even determined by the military superiority of one group over the other. In some
cases, the possession of a technological advantage is enough to overcome vast
tribulations. The importance of military superiority can be seen in all regions of
the world at one time or another, with the incursions on the Roman Empire by the
Central Asian dynasties beginning an important interaction that would defines the
region for centuries to come.
In the section of the Turkish history guide titled “An Empire Under Threat,”
the Turks are described as “renowned horsemen and soldiers [that] were
recruited in large numbers as paid warriors or as superior slave soldiers” by
Abbasid caliphs. Centuries of employment as soldiers created a highly skilled
army of recent converts to Islam that sought to reconquer the lands of
Muhammad. The Seljuks would continue chipping away at the Byzantine Empire
until the Mongols decimated the Turks in 1243. Less than a century later, Orhan
Ghazi conquered Bursa and sought to reestablish Ottoman military superiority.
Orhan reorganized the military from “religiously inspired horsemen into discrete
units ranging from shock troops to a regular cavalry and infantry.” Following in his
father’s footsteps, Murat I created the janissary corps, which was made up from
the “taxed” sons of subjects that were isolated from their origins to ensure loyalty
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to the sultan. Like the Turkish horsemen before them, the janissaries became a
highly trained and fiercely loyal praetorian force, which gave military superiority to
the Ottomans.
One of the most defining moments in the history of Western civilization
and in the interaction between Europe and the Islamic World came in 1453 with
the fall of Constantinople to Mehmet “The Conqueror.” The guide on Turkish
history tells of the Muslim acquisition of cannons from a Hungarian renegade
who had “first offered his services to the Byzantines” but they had no money to
pay him. The newly acquired cannons provided a technological advantage to
accompany the Ottoman military superiority and were enough to ignite the
ambitions of Mehmet. According to Molly Greene’s article “Resurgent Islam:
1500-1700” in A Mediterranean in History, Mehmet built a fortress on the
European side of the Bosphorus in 1451 equipped with three great cannons.
Mehmet used the cannons to “control all traffic between the Black Sea and the
Mediterranean,” but more importantly, introduced the Ottomans as a
Mediterranean power. In the coming years, Mehmet set his sights on the heart of
the Byzantine Empire, the capital city of Constantinople. Beginning in 1453, the
cannons and siege machinery of Mehmet battered the walls of Constantinople for
weeks. Despite a brilliant defense of the city, the cannons were too much for the
weary Christians and the city fell to the Islamic Ottoman Empire. The
introductions of cannons would transform warfare on both land and sea, as
massive fortifications were needed to stand up to siege by cannons and ships
were outfitted with cannons and then made bigger and stronger.
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A modern example of the determining factor of military superiority and
possession of technological advantage can be seen in the Syrian Civil War. The
Assad regime clearly has the superior military as the army has remained united
behind the President and the regime “has relied on multiple security forces to do
its dirty work [all] fiercely loyal,” according to Gelvin. The Assad regime has
benefitted economically and militarily from recent relations with Turkey and Qatar
as well as its long-standing relationship with Iran. Following the uprising, Iran
gave the technological advantage to the Assad regime as Emile Hokayem claims
the support included “expertise in Internet and communications monitoring; help
in circumventing oil and other sanctions imposed by the US, the EU and the Arab
League; deliveries of ammunition and weaponry; intelligence-sharing; counter-
insurgency advice; and personnel from the Quds and Bassij forces.” As the
Syrian opposition groups have failed to unite around a common strategy and
infighting occurred, any economic or military aid to the opposition is being
improperly used at best. As the United Nations did not approve military
intervention, countries that are militarily strong enough to topple the Assad
regime, like the United States, France and the United Kingdom, are unable to do
anything more than offer non-military aid to the opposition and try to broker a
peace agreement. In relation to the Arabian Peninsula, the Syrian Civil War
created instability in a region where no country, maybe with the exception of
Turkey, possessed the capabilities to stabilize their own countries, much less the
Peninsula and launch a campaign against the forces of the Assad regime. As far
as Turkey is involved, there is hostility and minor skirmishes along the Syrian-
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Turkish borders but Turkey has been reluctant to engage Assad militarily.
Turkey’s military is one of the largest in Europe and the World and probably
could oppose the forces of Assad, even with Iranian and Russia military aid but
Turkey is unwilling to intervene without support from Europe and/or the United
States. From the beginning of the uprisings, the Syrian opposition groups without
the support of a major power were hopelessly overpowered and technologically
routed. As the major powers continue to push for a negotiated peace, the Assad
regime is inching closer to complete suppression of the opposition.
TRADE & COMMERCE
During the centuries of cultural interaction between Europe and the
Islamic World, trade and commerce was as prevalent and in many ways much
more important than the military campaigns between them. In “Resurgent Islam,”
Molly Greene argued that when the Ottoman Empire became a Mediterranean
power, it had no desire to prevent trade within Ottoman lands “nor did they seek
to impose a barrier between themselves and the world of international
commerce…the customs revenue from trade was to a vital source of revenue
and of course the goods themselves were important as well.” A major incentive
for the Ottomans to take Constantinople was not only its position as the
“gatekeeper” of the silk road into Europe but also its control of the Bosphorus
allowing them to control the Black Sea. Many port cities along the Black Sea and
Mediterranean rapidly expanded in order to provision a fast-growing
Constantinople. The merchants controlling the trade within a port also played an
important role in the history of the interactions, especially the Genoese and
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Venetians. Many of these merchants were educated in commerce and their
exposure to other cultures made them valuable citizens with the skills to elevate
their status in society. Once these merchants had become vastly wealthy they
became the elites of their respective societies. This upward mobility would inspire
many people to immigrate to the ports of new lands in search of a better life.
One of these cities, Marseilles would be the setting for Jean-Claude Izzo’s
crime novel Total Chaos, which the author describes as dreaming of being a
capital while “forgetting that what made it a capital was the fact that it was a port.”
Despite racial tensions among the various underworld groups, a mobster named
Zucca, the man Ugo killed, pulled out of prostitution, night clubs and gambling
and left them to the Arab mafia and other Marseilles gang. Despite relinquishing
control, Zucca continued to run things for the new proprietors. The story
illustrates the new trade and commerce that now flourish in port cities along the
Mediterranean. The geographic location, demographics and history all make
Marseilles a perfect environment for the various activities of the underworld to
thrive. Racial tensions and the realization that a new life is not as easy as
originally thought contribute to drug use and/or prostitution, among others. The
proximity to the Mediterranean also makes cities like Marseilles an important
center for the trafficking drugs, weapons, people, etc. and these all can be seen
in Izzo’s Total Chaos.
According to the section titled “The Decline and Fall of the Ottomans” in
the Turkish history guide, the breakdown of the janissary military tradition began
when “soldiers were allowed to marry and become involved in commerce.” The
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colonization of the New World gave Europeans a clear advantage in naval
warfare and the Industrial Revolution relegated the Ottoman Empire into “a
source of cheap raw materials and a vast market for manufactured products.” It
would only be a matter of time before the Europeans could use trade or some
other economic incentive to cow the Ottomans. The end of the 19th century saw
the Ottoman Empire bankrupted by European free-market economics and
“adopted as the sick man of Europe.”
The importance of trade and commerce is still a very important
determinant of foreign policy. In “Turkey’s New Geopolitics,” F. Stephen Larrabee
discusses the Turkish activism in the Middle East circa 2010, which can be seen
in the strengthening of ties with Muslim neighbors, especially Iran and Syria as
well as improved relations with Russia. In true economic fashion, Larrabee
explains the shift toward the Middle East and Gulf as trade with each has
“increased significantly [and] as a result, the EU’s share in total Turkish exports
has fallen below 50%,” while the proportion going to the Middle East has doubled
and trade with Russia expanded significantly. Another interesting fact is the
Turkish importation of natural gas from Russia and Iran and the Russian market
for the Turkish construction industry, which seems to coincide with the
improvement in relations. It would seem that prior to 2010, Prime Minister
Erdoğan was allowing Turkey to be purchased away from the influence of the
United States and European Union. It makes sense that Turkey would use
commerce to establish or expand relations and therefore its influence in the
Middle East by providing a non-Western source of goods.
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IMPORTANCE OF IDENTITY
The final and most theme, which is always present in some way or
another in the cultural interactions between Europe and the Islamic World is the
importance of identity. What I mean by identity is the ethnic, religious or culture a
person or group associates with and/or defines themselves as a part of. This
concept of identity influences domestic and foreign policy around the world and is
too important to be ignored or even denied. A very good example of the
importance of identity can be seen in Amin Maalouf’s Leo Africanus and is
prevalent from the very beginning as the narrator, Hasan boldly states, “I come
from no country, from no city, no tribe. I am the son of the road, my country is the
caravan, my life the most unexpected of voyages.” This one statement seems to
grasp the identity of Hasan as molded by the events of his life. In the story of
Hasan’s birth, his father, Muhammad, had taken a freeborn wife, Salma, and a
Christian “slave” girl named Warda. Salma, Hasan’s mother, said that as a
freeborn wife of a Muslim, she was granted fewer freedoms than Warda, who
actually was a slave. It is disturbing that the laws of the Islamic faith would
repress a freeborn believer more than an unbeliever captured during a military
campaign and sold into slavery. This is clearly a situation where a man could
unleash his passions and frolic with an unbeliever while still appearing pious and
saving face, similar to Hasan’s father when assaulted by Warda’s brother.
Leo Africanus is full of situations in which identity is present, especially in
the “Book of Cairo.” Upon entering Cairo, Hasan claimed, “in no other city does
one forget so quickly that one is a foreigner.” This statement is validated by
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Hasan’s quick integration into the life and customs of Cairo, which had been an
important economic and religious center. In Cairo, a multi-cultural society similar
to a Mediterranean port city flourished for centuries. While in Constantinople,
Hasan comments on the integration of the city and in a revealing argument with
his wife, Nur, she asks him how he can “accept the loss of one town after
another…without ever fighting, without ever regretting, without ever looking
back?” His response is that he has his faith and his passion for living, which
reveals Hasan’s identity. It is people like Hasan that can integrate and enjoy life
no matter what city they reside or even the circumstances they face. For Hasan,
life is a journey that will one day take him to God and all that happens is a part of
the journey you were predestined for.
As aforementioned, port cities like Marseilles were multi-cultural societies
where “every race on earth mixed” according to Jean-Claude Izzo. Total Chaos is
another book filled with examples of racial tensions and the importance of
identity. Following the discovery of Leila’s body, her father, Mouloud, suffered an
identity crisis as he lost the second great love of his life and the reason he
uprooted himself. To Mouloud, “Algeria wasn’t his country anymore. And now
France had rejected him once and for all. Now he was nothing but a poor Arab
and no one would care what happened to him.” The death of Leila was symbolic
of the death of the immigrants dream as regardless of her assimilation into
French culture, Leila looked and therefore was “nothing but an Arab.” Many
people like Leila would not even consider themselves Arab or immigrants, as
France or Europe is the only home they have ever known. Within many multi-
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cultural societies like Marseilles, hard times create hostility among ordinary
people towards those less fortunate like Arabs, Africans or Orientals, whether
they are immigrants or not. Many of the “ordinary people” turn to groups with
strong ethnic beliefs like the National Front. With popular support, these neo-
Nazis or fascists are elected and racial government policies follow.
Outside of fictional literature, the racial tensions created by identity are just
as prevalent. The battle described by Kepel in The War for Muslim Minds, would
be fought for European youths of Muslim immigrants who could embody the
integration of Arabs and/or Muslims within a European, democratic society and
would reject extremism and violence. On the other hand, they could “embrace
cultural separatism” and either seek the Islamization of Europe or completely but
nonviolently separate themselves from the influences and culture of the West.
What is important in this “battle” is the way in which the governments of Europe
and their population respond the rise of Islamic extremism. The government must
be careful in enacting policies that seem to be anti-Islamic as they create
negative backlash. One such example was the French law forbidding religious
symbols to be worn in school, which seemed to be aimed at veils worn by Muslim
girls. The racial tensions described in Total Chaos are also important in the battle
as ethnic violence can result in cultural isolation or worse, a leaning towards
Islamic extremism. These fears are very likely to occur as many youths of Muslim
immigrants are exposed to the rhetoric of Abdelkrim, the President of the Young
Muslims of France, who says that “whatever the multiples modes of identity that
young North Africans, socialized in France, try out, there is only one truth (even
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for those who are unaware of it): their identity as Muslims. All the alternatives are
belittled as zama – pretend. Only Islam engenders self-respect and respect from
others.” With messages like these, the government and populations of Europe
should do more to integrate its Arab or Muslim youths instead of isolating them.
In more recent news, since 2008, Turkish foreign policy has been more
willing to engage with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq. In
“Turkey’s New Geopolitics,” F. Stephen Larrabee claims the engagement is a
response to the Turkish government’s fear that the KRG will take control of oil
resources in Kirkuk enabling “the Iraqi Kurds to finance an independent Kurdish
state. The “Kurdish Opening” of the Erdoğan government is an attempt to
address Kurdish issues including the elimination of restrictions on the use of the
Kurdish language as well as other cultural rights. The problem between Turkey
and its Kurdish population date back to the Ataturk creation of a national
(Turkish) identity, in which the various cultures of the previous Ottoman Empire
were suppressed. The Kurdish people, who were originally promised their own
country, have refused to submit and held on to their Kurdish identity. It is rather
ironic that Turkey has refused to acknowledge the Kurdish identity for so long
when they have attributed their delay of admission into the European Union on
account that they identify as a Muslim country, despite its membership in NATO.
The EU has even gone as far as to cite the Kurdish suppression as a reason to
not grant membership to Turkey. In times of the Syrian Civil War, the Kurdish
population has become a more pressing matter for fear of a Kurdish uprising,
especially since many refugees fleeing Syria are settling in Kurdish regions.
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CONCLUSION
With regard to the vast historiography about the cultural interactions
between Europe and the Islamic World, it is evident that the interaction expands
far beyond mere military campaigns or even economic interactions. Common
themes found within the selected literature include the effects of people and
events in the interaction; the determining factor of military superiority and/or
possession of a technological advantage; the importance of trade and
commerce; and the importance of identity. By no means are these the only
themes among the interaction but they are the most prevalent in the literature
and have a tendency to span the entire history of the Europe and Islamic World
interaction and even continue to enlighten and influence policy makers in relation
to the Middle East after the Arab Spring and during the Syrian Civil War.
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