Academic Realism, but for the Crusaders

It is refreshing to see academics finally start to tackle the thorny issues of our times with renewed realism. . A few recent examples:

• From Calvin to the Caliphate
• The New Enemy Within
• Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia: Old fears, new threats?

From the demagogue Ayaan Hirsi Ali to real academics like Professor Robert S Wistrich, the conclusion is 'religious doctrines matter', as the underlying motivators or actuators of our behaviour, even in this age.

All this newly-found academic candor is still missing an important piece: 'religious history matters'. Closet crusaders among less-visible policymakers override any academic insight with the primal desire to restore the 'Kingdom of God' that was so 'savagely' usurped by the Muslim 'heretics' in the Middle Ages. By the same token, jihadists want to gain back Spain and Palestine to restore the 'glorious' period of Islam.

And that is the way human martial endeavours are: perhaps academics are condemned to rationally record the activities of irrational actors as they jostle for unachievable ideals.