Bernard Lewis reduced fourteen centuries of East-West to unchanging conflict.

Evidence

For Lewis, the relationship between the “Christian West” and “Muslim East” is primarily driven by conflict; this fundamental characteristic of the East-West encounter therefore necessarily persists into the late twentieth century. Chapter 1 sets out to debunk this conception by locating the image of Islam in Europe in its proper historical context. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 27

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Bernard Lewis supplied the clash of civilizations thesis to American foreign policy — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 213; Huntington popularized a clash-of-civilizations thesis built on Lewis’s earlier Orientalist work. — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 234; Western scholarship constructed the East as savage to justify imperial conquest. (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• The East and West have coexisted in conflict and cooperation, not eternal clash #contradicts (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 97
• Bernard Lewis justified the essentialist category of Islamic terrorism #expands (0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 398
• Bernard Lewis argued Arabs are unready for Western-style elections #expands (0.50) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 211