DOC Why Did Europe Conquer the World? (The Princeton Economic History of the Western World) by Philip T. Hoffman in History

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Most in the West are loathe to admit that it needs but one foe to breed a war; not two; and that substantial sectors of the Islamic world have indeed declared jihad against any and all enemies; most particularly the Christian world. The world’s second-largest religion is dominated by three elements which must be understood to make sense of this clash of civilizations currently raging. First; Islam is comprised of dozens of sects; not merely Sunnis and Shi`is; and this sectarianism drives many major conflicts. To name but the most obvious: Sunni Saudis v. Twelver Shi`i Iranians; Sunni Yemenis v. their Fiver Shi`i (Zaydi) countrymen; the Islamic State’s Sunnis v. al-Asad’s Alawis and Iraqis Twelver Shi`is; and across the Islamic world writ large; Salafi Sunnis v. the mystical Sufis of many orders. Second; both major sects of Islam allow Muslims; in effect; to lie to non-Muslims; under a doctrine known as kitman or taqiyya. This makes it rather difficult not only to vett Muslim refugees for terrorists in their midst; but to trust a nation-state like the Islamic Republic of Iran in the diplomatic realm. Finally; many if not most modern Muslims—both jihadist and peaceful—pine for the return of the caliphate; or one-man rule of the Islamic community. Should a more viable contender than ISIS’s leader ever claim that position; it could prove a great boon; or a massive headache; for the rest of the world. The author holds a PhD in Islamic; African; and World history from The Ohio State University. He is a US Army veteran who served in the 101st Airborne Division as an Arabic interrogator; and afterwards worked as a college professor and consultant to US Special Operations Command. His other books are Holiest Wars: Islamic Mahdis; Their Jihads and Osama bin Ladin (2005) and the complementary volume to this work: Ten Years’ Captivation with the Mahdi’s Camps: Essays on Muslim Eschatology; 2005-2015 (2015).