THE ARABS IN ECLIPSE

By the 11th century the Arab world no longer could defend itself, and would be dominated for eight centuries by outsiders. For most of this period the conquerors were not European Christians, but Turkish Muslims. Beginning in the 10th century, they no longer entered the Arab world as mercenaries and slaves, but as intact tribes. The most successful were the Seljuqs, who controlled Iran by the mid-10th and Iraq and Syria by the mid-11th century, and tried unsuccessfully to stabilize the Armenian frontier with the Byzantines. Uncontrolled bands of warriors gradually pushed the frontier toward Constantinople. Out of this chaos, another Turkish tribe, the Osmanli (Ottomans) gradually became paramount and completed the conquest of the Byzantine empire in 1453. The Ottoman Empire expanded for two more centuries, reaching its height under Elizabeth I's contemporary Suleiman, known to the Turks as the Lawgiver and to Europeans as the Magnificent. At its greatest extent, the empire included Crimea, the Balkans and Hungary (Vienna was besieged twice but never taken), and virtually the entire Arab world, including Syria, Palestine, Iraq, the Hijaz, Egypt, Libya, Tunis, and Algeria.

Beginning about the same time as the Seljuqs were arriving in Baghdad, Christian forces went on the offensive at the other end of the empire, beginning with a slow but inexorable re-conquest that gave Spain its greatest heroes in El Cid in the 10th and Ferdinand and Isabella in the 15th centuries. In 1071 the Seljuqs defeated the Byzantines at Manzikert (near Lake Van in eastern Turkey), captured the emperor, and caused the Pope to call for a Crusade, the first of many over the next two centuries, but mere pinpricks that had more impact on the Europeans than on the Arabs. Not until Napoleon's short-lived invasion of Egypt did the Europeans again attack the core of the Arab world. In the first half of the 19th century, Europeans were interested chiefly in trade and transit. This led first to mapping routes, then to bases at strategic points along those routes to resupply ships and put down piracy, and finally to full-fledged colonization by France and Britain.

THE ARAB REVIVAL

Arab League Members

Just as, in retrospect, the beginnings of decline can be seen two centuries before the eclipse, so too the beginnings of revival can now be seen to have begun long before it became apparent. Napoleon's easy victory shattered self-confidence in the inherent and perpetual superiority of Islam over the infidel west. Muhammad Ali, an Albanian who governed Egypt for the Ottomans, was one of the first to act on the lessons, initiating a program of military, economic, and educational reforms. The Ottoman Empire, turning naturally to the enemy of its attackers, allied with Germany, became embroiled in World War I, and was destroyed (modern Turkey emerged from the ruins under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk).

Museum Guard - Taif, Saudi Arabia

The peace settlement carved many of the Arab nation states we know today from the former Ottoman empire, but full independence was deferred to some indefinite future. The very concept of independence was an idea at least partly engendered by the British to engineer the Arab revolt against the Turks (making "Lawrence of Arabia" legendary as well). Arab resentment at broken promises (and contradictory ones to the Jews) led to nationalist movements that reached every level of society thanks partly to the emergence of Arab newspapers, partly to colonial and missionary efforts at education that gave them wide readership. World War II and the anti-colonialism that followed brought these hopes to fruition, though individual countries had very different experiences en route.

The United States and the Soviet Union, and to a lesser extent Britain and France, viewed events in the newly independent Arab countries (and everywhere else) as opportunities or threats to their own geo-political interests. The Arabs sought gain by playing the rivals against one another. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the effortless destruction of the much vaunted Iraqi army by the West are forcing Arabs into a reassessment not unlike that following Napoleon's easy victory over the Mamlukes.

The Arab world today includes 21 independent countries totaling 5.7 million square miles (the United States covers 3.6 million square miles) and 200 million people. These countries are sufficiently diverse to embarrass any conceivable stereotype, and sufficiently complex to provide exceptions to any generalization.

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