The Wilson Quarterly has an excellent short article, “Rediscovering Central Asia,” by S. Frederick Starr, that offers an overview of contributions to human culture that emerged from Central Asia and some speculation on the causes of its decline. A prime culprit, the intellectual influence of Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali, author of The Incoherence of the Philosophers. (Al Ghazali’s book was rebutted by Abū ‘l-Walīd Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Rushd, usully known just as “ibn Rushd” or as “Averroes,” in his The Incoherence of the Incoherence, but it seems that, however fine ibn Rushd’s philosophical responses were, his view lost out, with terrible consequences for Islamic civilization.)
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Thank you for sharing the interesting article. The old days of Silk Road may be again upon us. I can hope! Free markets and free trade and open minds are our future.
That is almost serendipitous, as I just last week posted the following quote:
Betrand Russell on Asia
Granted, Russell mostly refers to China and Japan, but it is in the same vein of comparing the European and Asian cultures.
Indeed! Thanks!
Tom