Turkey in Position to Lead Region Out of Tumultuous Century

Summary

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PARIS - Looking backward, there is a great deal to be said for leaving well enough alone, which is more difficult than one might think. Western Europe in the 19th century is now generally looked back upon as having constituted a pinnacle of Western civilization. Certainly in literature, music and the plastic arts this was so, the last-named in the century's final decade, when painting ceased its period as domestic decoration and exploded into myriad ways to perceive not only the external world but the interior universe as well.

The modern Western intelligence was invented then, and the world has since played variations on 19th century political themes: nationalism, colonialism, imperialism, populism, class liberation, revolution, anarchism, class and racial warfare. The Napoleonic wars began the century and transformed its political institutions. The Franco-Prussian War ended the century, setting the scene for the hyper-destructive 20th century.

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Extract

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Turkey in Position to Lead Region Out of Tumultuous Century

Better to have stayed in the peaceful years of before.

The Ottoman Empire finished the century in decline, its political implosion impending, certainly with the West Europeans observing or actively promoting the Balkan and Crimean wars, trying ...

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