THE SAKER – “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born, now is the time of monsters” (Antonio Gramsci)
The concentric attack of the modern West upon the Islamic world, according to Toynbee, has inaugurated the present encounter between the two civilizations, which he saw as “part of a still larger and more ambitious movement, in which the Western civilization is aiming at nothing less than the incorporation of all mankind in a single great society, and the control of everything in the earth, air and sea which mankind can turn to account by means of modern Western technique”. Thus, the contemporary encounter between Islam and the West “is not only more active and intimate than any phase of their contact in the past, it is also distinctive in being an incident in the attempt by the Western man to ‘westernize’ the world — an enterprise which will possibly rank as the most momentous, and almost certainly as the most interesting feature in history, even for a generation that has lived through two world wars.”
Toynbee drew the conclusion that Islam is once more facing the West its back to the wall; but this time the odds are more heavily against it than they were “even at the most critical moments of the Crusades, for the modern West is superior to it not only in arms, but also in technique of economic life, on which military science ultimately depends, and above all in spiritual culture — the inward force which alone creates and sustains the outward manifestations of what is called civilization”. CONTINUE READING
Thanks for reposting this wonderful treat! International (and Western public opinion in particular) is badly in need of such objective, informative and well researched articles. The author referred to Graham Fuller, a former CIA agent who has operated in the Middle East for a long period of time. After having left the CIA, and then the U.S. for Canada, Graham E. Fuller confessed his guilt with regard to his past activities and delivered his mea culpa, notably by writing a memorable piece in Foreign Policy magazine, which later became a book titled “World Without Islam”. He started by asking: “What if Islam had never existed? To some, it’s a comforting thought: No clash of civilizations, no holy wars, no terrorists. Would Christianity have taken over the world? Would the Middle East be a peaceful beacon of democracy? Would 9/11 have happened? Would the world be more peaceful?”. He then answered these questions and concluded by saying: “In the face of these tensions between East and West, Islam unquestionably adds yet one more emotive element, one more layer of complications to finding solutions. Islam is not the cause of such problems. It may seem sophisticated to seek out passages in the Koran that seem to explain “why they hate us.” But that blindly misses the nature of the phenomenon. How comfortable to identify Islam as the source of “the problem”; it’s certainly much easier than exploring the impact of the massive global footprint of the world’s sole superpower.
A world without Islam would still see most of the enduring bloody rivalries whose wars and tribulations dominate the geopolitical landscape. If it were not religion, all of these groups would have found some other banner under which to express nationalism and a quest for independence. Sure, history would not have followed the exact same path as it has. But, at rock bottom, conflict between East and West remains all about the grand historical and geopolitical issues of human history: ethnicity, nationalism, ambition, greed, resources, local leaders, turf, financial gain, power, interventions, and hatred of outsiders, invaders, and imperialists. Faced with timeless issues like these, how could the power of religion not be invoked?
Remember too, that virtually every one of the principle horrors of the 20th century came almost exclusively from strictly secular regimes: Leopold II of Belgium in the Congo, Hitler, Mussolini, Lenin and Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot. It was Europeans who visited their “world wars” twice upon the rest of the world — two devastating global conflicts with no remote parallels in Islamic history.
Some today might wish for a “world without Islam” in which these problems presumably had never come to be. But, in truth, the conflicts, rivalries, and crises of such a world might not look so vastly different than the ones we know today”.
An outstanding testimony, and, most importantly, a lesson we would all do well to reflect upon…
The Whole Clash of Civilization is Fake Zio Construct.It was warmongering jewish Neocons and their project Zio American century that has unleashed Hell on Earth in the Mideast,and caused a refugee crisis plus problems with terrorists.I Hate All the faux created Clash of Civilisation Bull#@t,people Need to point at the true instigators and Criminal gangs that caused this conflict (Jewish Neocons,Christian Zionists and Ultra liberals),but what is worst are the soo called intellectuals and authors that propagate this East vs West Myth,We Need to Challenge the unholy wars for Zion and those who profit from it.
Impenetrable.
Far too many words.
And far too little to say…
“The concentric attack of the modern West upon the Islamic world, according to Toynbee, has inaugurated the present encounter between the two civilizations, which he saw as “part of a still larger and more ambitious movement, in which the Western civilization is aiming at nothing less than the incorporation of all mankind in a single great society…”
AKA the ‘Jew Werld Ordure’.
And the sentence doesn’t even end there.
I weary of fervent, prolix, academicizing tracts which pit ‘West’ against ‘Islam’ as if such a dialectic existed or had meaning. Beyond trying to deal with rising levels Muslim-on-White-European rape on the streets of European cities, that is.
There is no ‘West’. The ‘West’ is the ‘Zest’. Every single ‘Western’ (former) nation is submerged in unpayable debt. And the piper calls the tune that the ‘West’ sings every day. Literally. Step forward Miley Cyrus and take a bow.
“Thus, the contemporary encounter between Islam and the West “is not only more active and intimate than any phase of their contact in the past, it is also distinctive in being an incident in the attempt by the Western man to ‘westernize’ the world…”
He means ‘zesternize’.
And the sentence doesn’t end there.
The ‘West’ has been long since zesternized. And the white European population worldwide reduced from 30% at the turn of last century to less than 10% and counting. Downwards.
The byline to the Saker’s site is “Stop the Empire’s war on Russia”.
Which ‘Empire’ is he alluding to?
I need you so that I could die
I love you so and that is why
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Dream, dream, dream, dream
Dream
The late leader of the richest country in Africa[Libya] Colonel Gaddafi’s last words ,and you can see it on YouTube was,”When i am gone all you with have is refugees and Al Qeada”,his words have proven true.Gaddafi was perplexed at what he saw as the West cutting their own throats as they bided to oust him.There are many anecdotal stories of Gaddafi’s quest to rid his nation of what was called those bearded men or religious fanatics,the same is true of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, it may be said in a logical way that these two strongmen protected us in the west,they stood like Serbius the three headed guard dog of Greek myth guarding the gates of Hades.It was the Prince of Darkness and arch ziocon Paul Wolfawitz that initiated the proceedings to destroy the two countries of Iraq and Libya, 7 countries in five years,it was the beginning the ultimate target was and is Iran plus all of that threatened the Israeli state,Gaddafi’s attempt to de-dollarise and creat a gold backed currency was deemed a strategic threat to their plans. To Hate Muslims is irrational when the facts are revealed, it is the Syrian army mostly made up Muslim and Christians that lead the fight to defend all humanity.
Here’s another outstanding piece by the same author:
https://thesaker.is/9-11-and-the-green-scare-its-high-time-for-a-paradigm-shift/#comments
https://www.globalresearch.ca/911-and-the-green-scare-its-high-time-for-a-paradigm-shift/5631878