ABSTRACT
One explanation for the absence of significant cultural and political understandings between Western Europe and Eastern Asia can thus be found in the purely technical aspects of all Eurasian relations. The median position in the traffic of intercultural and international relations, which the Arabized nations occupied until the end of the fifteenth century, can no doubt be viewed as a corollary of favorable geographic circumstances and successful campaigns of conquest and conversion. One of the strongest impressions left by a reading of the Arabian Nights is that of a manifold intercourse between Muslims and Christians. The Muslim governments that had evoked the abortive diplomatic maneuvers of the Christian and Mongolian courts used consummate skill in establishing themselves as brokers between East and West. The fabric of the universe that unfolded itself to a sophisticated Muslim in this epoch was thus immensely intricate and colorful.
