The focus of this particular novel (Vanished Flight 777) and this web site remains a thought experiment in which Western civilization is urged to remain vigilant and to respect the fiendish inventiveness of its enemies while despising their ideas. The following long article (my opinion) makes the case that the Arabic world is in a state of flux for predictable and understandable reasons. The West can understand and properly deal with these new realities by understanding them and setting aside its own antiquated and irrelevant ideas and policies.
July 2014 BBC MagazineWhy Caliphate Is Not Historic Islam In this interesting analysis, John Gray makes the case that in the long term, the Western-created 'nation' of Iraq was bound to unravel for historical reasons that transcend the interference by Western nations, and we are dealing with the consequences today. (BBC: John Gray is a political philosopher and author of False Dawn: The Delusions of Global Capitalism.)
John T. CullenVisions Passing In The Night If events in the region seem baffling to many, it is because many Westerners are wearing the wrong lenses to view the history. The BBC has provided some useful maps to underscore a better understanding. On this page, view the map near bottom of the page, under the heading Where the main jihadist groups based?. This is a quick, capsule overview of extremist hot spots in the region. More cogently, look at this simplified BBC Magazine article's map of the three Ottoman provinces in Mesopotamia before World War I. This is essentially the reversion to which John Gray refers. Where Western empires (driven by vast, powerful oil companies as well as military security interests) created the phony 'nation' of Iraq, the Ottomans had ruled the historic region of Mesopotamia in three separate provinces: the Kurdish-dominated province of Mosul in the northeast, the Sunni-dominated Nineveh Province in the southwest, and a Shi'a dominated province in the southeast. (More on this soon.)
Copyright © 2014 by John T. Cullen. All Rights Reserved.
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