Response to Slater
Reader comment on item: Muslim Autonomous Zones in the West?

Submitted by joe (United States), Jan 13, 2009 at 15:03

How does Slater's vision differ from what existed in Europe prior to the advent of the modern nation state? Political Europe once consisted largely of small kingdoms and principalities. Ironically, I would argue that the Ottoman threat catalyized the development of modern political Europe, especially in the century before Lepanto in 1571.

I don't believe that contemporary Europeans, aged and content as they are, have the stomach for a genocidal fight against a youthful Islamic population. The Muslim city-state model allows Europe to avoid such an outcome, while insuring the continued existance of a modern, secular, politically-liberal post-Christian Europe (at least for awhile). Secular Muslims (or ex-Muslims if you will) might very well choose to live outside the city-state boundaries.

We have seen already seen the development of these separate Muslim enclaves not only in Europe, but increasingly in the US and Australia as well.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.