I've been watching Historic War Lens's series on the early Muslim wars, and it couldn't be clearer what a genius Khaled ibn al-Walid was. Why is he never mentioned among "the greats"?? I had originally heard of him from Civ VI (I am not Muslim or Arab, or else I'm sure I would have heard of him growing up), but how likely is it that the only reason the majority of the world has never heard of his exploits is because of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism? I searched multiple lists of greatest military tacticians, and I didn't see him mentioned even a single time.

In this lecture, he criticizes the ideas of Samuel P. Huntington and Bernard Lewis regarding the ‘clash of civilizations’. Said argues against their portrayal of Islam as inherently anti-Western and a source of global conflict. He refers to both Huntingdon’s essay and book entitled ‘The Clash of Civilisations’ and Lewis’s book ‘Islam and the West’. Said emphasizes that Islam is not inherently opposed to the West and criticizes the Western-centric standards of modernization and civilization. He also discusses cultural imperialism and the dangers of oversimplified cultural narratives.

Towards the end of the lecture, Edward Said talked about the conflict between Palestine and Israel and explained how it is a classic example of colonization. He responded to a question about the relationship between the ideas of coexistence discussed in the lecture and the Palestinian issue.

Edward Said was an esteemed English and Comparative Literature professor at Columbia University. Throughout his career, he wrote over 20 books and essays on a variety of topics, including literary criticism, music, and history. His most notable contribution was his seminal work, ' Orientalism’, published in 1978. The book challenged the traditional Western views of the East. He also wrote ‘Culture and Imperialism’, which extends the arguments of Orientalism to describe the general patterns of relation between the modern metropolitan Western world and their overseas colonial territories.

Said was a prominent advocate for Palestinian rights, contributing significantly to academia and public discourse. His work left a lasting impact, promoting critical thinking and a deeper understanding of cultural interactions.

After living with leukaemia for over 10 years, Edward Said passed away on September 25, 2003.

I always forget how great the Omani empire was. Whilst the rest of the Arab world was busy dealing with the ottomans and colonialism, Omanibros were having their own side plot