The Impending Collapse of Arab Civilization

U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings ^ | September, 2005 | Lieutenant Colonel James G. Lacey, U.S. Army Reserve

[Conservative Canuck]

There's an Arab civilization? Coulda fooled me...

[JLS]

My thoughts exactly. You have to have a civilization for it to collapse.

[quantim]

Less than one book a year is translated into Arabic per million people, compared to over 1000 per million for developed countries.

Funny how they still manage to get their Islamic hate out.

[ConorMacNessa]

Oral tradition - they memorize it. It could not be spread by a critical intellect, IMO.

[Mike Darancette]

It's been downhill for those folks since 5/29/1453

[Cicero]

It's not really clear whether the Muslims have ever had a real civilization, or have merely conquered various other civilizations and built on them until they were destroyed by the essential barbarity of Islam.

But you don't need a civilization to conquer and destroy. The Arabs have been very good at that.

No, they won't defeat anyone by employing military force. But they will defeat them by exploiting their weakness and decadence.

I don't see demographic growth is weakening the Muslims. Far from it. Demographic shrinkage is weakening Europe and Japan, and to some extent the U.S. These countries are forced to take in Muslim immigrants or, in the case of Japan, to export more and more of their industrial production to other countries.

The Huns were not civilized or militarily sophisticated, but the overran the Roman Empire. The Mongols overran most of the world, and they were not exactly civilized either.

This article gives food for thought, but it's not persuasive.

[neodad]

Kind of like the Borg?

[Prost1]

"Oral tradition - they memorize it."

False teachings of your childhood. Homer did not write brilliantly 500 years after the fact. He was contemporaneous.

No oral history. Thus, the Arabs are not passing on oral history but bigotry and hatred.

[Hess28]

Sounds about right to me.

I subscribe to Fukuyama's "End of History."

Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations" is rubbish.

[tet68]

Things are indeed bad in the Arab world and will get much worse.

One can only hope.

[PositiveCogins]

"Arab civilization" is an oxymoron. Even with there gross
displays of wealth they still live under a 7th century
ideology.

[mmercier]

macroeconomic geopolitical ping.

[ishootskeet]

cOULD HAVE FOOLED ME also. Sounds like there is not much civilization to be collapsed.

in addition to the problems mentioned in the article, their religion holds them back.How civilized is any country where religion pushes down half the human race, i.e. women?

[festus]

Has anyone noticed that when New Orleans decended into complete anarchy it was still at least as civilized as your average "arab civilization" ?

[A CA Guy]

If they didn't have oil reserves they'd be starving in the sand whole making love to their camels.

[BIGLOOK]

Oral tradition... They'll corrupt it.

NAVFAC Danang; VQ 1 '69-71 Nice meeting ya, Warts!

[wildcatf4f3]

Read this last night. Great to see a Proceedings article posted. I've read it cover to cover every month for the past 20 years, it is a fantastic resource that deals with so many subjects. Go Navy!!! P.S. be prepared for more falafel shops in the towns and by-ways of our great country.

[ConorMacNessa]

They will indeed corrupt it - but they'll make sure you and I don't corrupt it - much less render fair comment on it.

Well met, sir.

[Anticommie]

If they didn't have oil reserves they'd be starving in the sand whole making love to their camels.

Nothing lasts forever, eventually oil reserves will dry up, or the West will find alternate sources of energy, then the Arabs will be eating sand and making love to their camels again.(Only the young ones, viagra will run out too).