East and West

Name of the Book: East and West
Name of the Author: C. Northcote Parkinson
Abstract by: Mr. K. Gopalakrishnan - (nickname: Bonzy) (email: Title: East and West (The Rise and Fall of Civilisation)
The Romans and Greeks laid the foundation of western thought. The pagan gods of the western part of Eurasia gave way to eastern beliefs with the advent of Christian ideas imbibed by the Romans from their Christian subjects. Western part of Eurasia was unified by a common religion and resisted the onslaught of barbarian hordes who came from the east. The Crusades marked this struggle between the Christian Europe and the Islamic east and this seesawing of power struggle continues forever but the nomenclature of the religions is replaced at different ages by different ideologies like free world against communism or democracy against autocracy and so on. The rise and fall of many civilisations through the ages make an interesting study for a historian.
The victor's religion, custom, and language is thrust on the loosing nation. The observance by the defeated people of their ancient religious beliefs and custom or language could form the rallying point for their uprising and hence need to be suppressed. Added to this is the belief of the westerners that the asiatics are inferior, superstitious and are uncivilised and indulge in indecent and inhuman practices like baby sacrifices and female infanticide and sati (burning of the wife with the dead husband's funeral pyre). Thus these people have to be taught the way to their salvation and the true only God as shown by Jesus Christ and had to be civilised according to western way of life.
The religion of Islam is the threat from the east to western civilisation and can only be countered by another religion and communism is that faith. The Chinese who are followers of extended family system, which exacts obedience to parental authority, found communism with subservience of the individual to the commune and the party easy to obey. The Hindus in India with their rejection of materialism and humanism rejected communism, as they preferred a spiritualism leading to enlightenment.
Russian territory extends from the western Eurasia to Eastern Eurasia and hence it can be the bulwark to the west against the threat from the east.