In a way the ongoing discussion regarding the power of the Arabs and the Arab world, is a last stand for the Arabs. A thousand years ago, the mighty jihadis of the Arab peninsula really conquered the world. The recipe was holy war, that bread a vicious and extremely effective war machine. It conquered Mesopotamia, Persia, India, Northern Africa and penetrated deep into Asia.
But the fortunes of war has receded from the holy warriors; new more agile opponents have emerged; first Europe, then the Americas, the China, then Russia. New opponents with new methods.
To make a last stand, the Saudis, the Qataris, the Arabs in general have been bestowed with great wealth through oil richness. This has been used, very carefully, to expand the reach of the Arabs. The Arabs now have supporters all over the world, especially in Europe are the prospects good. Countries like Sweden and England have already travelled far down the path of Arab hegemony. But, due to a resilient and powerful America, the fortunes have faltered, and the Islamists have been pushed back.
The Arabs have used all their wealth to curry favor and to corrupt. Everywhere a minor muslim society have evolved or have been, the money have flown from the coffers of the Arabs. Hand in hand with this tactic, infiltration of the societies of the world have been the order of the day. Not that other countries do not do the same, the Arabs are just really good at it, and the receding competition between Russia and The US, have left a hole for someone to fill.
In the theater of international politics, the strategy will only bring the Arabs a part of the way, because the strength of the Arabs are based on natural resources, that will cease to create huge profits in a few years. Already the world is turning to other means of energy, and the power of the oil will stop within a decade or two.
This is the desperate situation the Arabs are in. There have been a small reprise in the continued downfall of the Khalifat, and unless the power and the resources it has amassed now is materialized into power over countries who will and can give them extra resources, like Europe, it will all just be a small reprise, and in a hundred years the power of Islam will be a fairy tale someone will hear over the tables in the Medinas of Saana.
The desperation leads the Arabs to do things they are not otherwise apt to do. Like playing a dangerous power game with the West. On one hand it plays the friend, on the other hand it infiltrates and seeks to destroy its own friend.
This is the reality.
We cannot trust the Arabs. We can trust the Persians, because they are not carrying as big an ego as the Arabs. They are content with an empire at the size of Cyrus the great. The Arabs are not, they have been the ruling elite of the enlightened world, and they will fight either to perish or to regain the strength they had.
Problem is, they are building a castle in the desert with moving sand. The castle might stand for a few years, but the groundwork and the base will still be sand, and will sweep the Arabs away.
The factor is science. The Newtonian science, that has brought the West to the moon and back again, is, from the viewpoint of the Arabs, unbeatable. It cannot be absorbed into Arab culture, because it is so alien.
Therefor, I would hesitate to use too much energy in the Arabs. Let them play their game, but do not trust them too much, and be careful about the alliances you make. They are desperate to regain former glory, and they are basically unable to do that. In the course of their actions, they however are extremely destructive to the world, and they are, right now, making very strong enemies around the world.
They are playing a game with a high risk, without any kind of backup. If the game falls apart, they are extremely vulnerable.
G-d bless the truth, and let the peace win over in the end, if spirit will.
