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.