Paper Topic:

history

HISTORY

2007

Western Influence on the Middle East : Weaponry and Warfare

The citizens and culture of Western Europe have long held influence on the citizens and culture of the Middle East . It is because of several centuries of influence that the Middle East has been shaped into the culture and civilization it is today . Although the levels and types of influences have changed over the course of hundreds of years , what remains unchanged is that influence does exist . According to Bernard Lewis , social and also cultural relations between European and Islamic

br worlds can be traced before the Crusades , and became massive and extensive from the Crusades onward (Lewis , 274

This influence was reciprocal , however , as Lewis goes on to say also that the Islamic contribution to Europe is enormous . While the Islamic contribution to Europe seemed to center around preservation of ancient learnings and the introduction of types of food , the European contribution to Islam would change far more lives and provide a lasting legacy . Lewis states that the most important contribution of the West to .the Islamic world was in weaponry (Lewis , 275 ) Lewis is correct , but extending his hypothesis one step further would lead to the conclusion that the area in which the Middle East has most been influenced by the West is in the art , tactics and practice of warfare Tracing the history from the beginning of the Crusades to the present date , repeated instances can be observed on Western weapons and warfare tactics influencing and being adopted by the Middle East . Although the Middle East has long tried to distance themselves from the West , their present strengths and proficiencies are surely in place because of Western influence A long-held perception of the Middle East has been one of violence , but historians realize that part of the roots of that violence stems in the influence of Western Europe , and the weapons they introduced beginning during the Christian Crusades of the Holy Land . Quoting Saladin , Lewis writes there is not one of them that does not bring and sell us weapons of war , to their detriment and to our advantage . Continuing to modern times , western troops engaged in military assignments in the Middle East often find themselves facing weapons that their own countries have supplied - paraphrasing Saladin , to their detriment and the advantage of the Middle East Western powers have continued to clash with Middle Eastern and Islamic powers through both small-scale skirmishes and all-out wars , dating from the original Crusades . Notably , during the 18th century , Russian and Austrian powers geared up to become a threat to the Middle East , due to their territorial goals for expansion . Although overrun on several occasions , the Muslim nations of the Middle East began to fight back Lewis describes that under a brillian military commander , Nader Khan the Iranian state began to recover (Lewis , 280 ) It was undoubtedly the influence of the West that enabled this turnaround in the art of warfare for Iran . Although conquering nations had before invaded and succeeded...

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