Russia was under Mongol rule for about 400 years. So, don't blame Genghis Khan for it.

Don't think crusades had anything to do with it - too much time passed since then…

islam's major problem,which has made them dependant and also the puppets of unscrupulous diplomats and governments is their less than diligent attention to developing food resources and solar power generation in their own home countries!!they have been repeatedly "starved" or curried as a source of oil without the least concern for their own agendas,morays and religious sentiments!!if sadaam hussien had spent all of the money he had wasted on european and american armaments on "top soil" for his country- iraq…it would be covered with 8 to 10 inches of arable soil today!!!this instead of infidel usurpers and would be conquerers!!water wells for villages to supply fresh water to islamic believers,farmers and faithful tradespeople!!but no!!!no fishing industry to speak of besides lobsters and shrimp for the sheiks!!the present state of arab/islamic nations has no representation to the promises and blessings which the quran,by the blessings of ALLAH,the most benevolent ,means for his "chosen ones" to have and maintain by HIS GRACE!!NATURE and it's fruitfullness should be the islamicists "weapon" of choice…creation always being superior and preferable to destruction!!inshallah,this could be…..by HIS goodwill and our own!!

I think the problem with Islamic culture is that they spend too much time fighting each other's religious views instead of progressing as a culture.

I'm not saying Christians are all high and mighty, (those Crusades didn't work so well) but you have to admit, they kinda took over the world in the religious sense, even though it was mostly by forced conversion and persecution.

But still, look at the middle east today. The Jews and Arabs are still fighting, much as they were in the early days. Even the Bible (Old Testament) describes warfare between Islam and Judiasm. For goodness sakes people. In the words of Michael Franti's "What I Be": You say you're a christian, cause God made you. you say you're a Muslim, cause God made you. You say you're a Hindu, and the next man a Jew, and we all kill each other, cause God told us to? No..

Plus, for the 21st century they've got pretty shoddy living. I know it's a center of religion worldwide, but it's a desert. Not exactly a good place to live. More like a travel destination. PS: there is air conditioning. And shorts, for that matter.

Idon't know if I am capable to argue with scholars. All Ican say is what I think.If anything the crusades strenthened Islam and it's leaders for instance Suleman,Tamerlane who accepted Islam. Ibelieve the discovery of oil and the fighting over control of those resources have done more damage to true Islam.It I believe is the true rise of narrow-minded fundamentalists like Osama bin Laden. The greed that accompany the riches no matter what they espouse.

That would not be a historian's take on this. All empires fall. Islam had its golden age. Did you expect that it would last forever? Of course not. It grew rotten, and there was the obvious pressure from outside.