Interpretation of the patterns of colonialism

Submitted by Pete (United States), Apr 15, 2004 at 12:42

"The pattern is striking: For over four centuries, from 1400 to 1830, Europeans expanded around the world, trading, ruling, and settling — but distinctly in places where Muslims were not, such as the Western Hemisphere, sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia, and Australia."

Essentially the colonialists avoided deserts with nothing to exploit. They had no problem colonizing the exploitable parts of southern Asia with large Muslim populations. It was only towards the end of the colonial age, when Germany and Italy were grabbing the left-overs that the earlier colonialist had skipped, that the European powers grabbed what was left, the deserts inhabited by Moslems, for geo-political reasons.

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