The reality of human interactions is that we fear and avoid what we
don’t understand. Most conscious thought about culture is about
differences: “we” have this way of doing things, “they” do something
else. This affects all interactions in a fundamental way. Similar
cultures will mix more, trade more, share more than distant cultures.
But culture is more than a way of being – it affects the way people
interact in and behave very deep ways. Turchin’s theory of civilization
says that Asibiya – the ability for group action – builds up exactly on
the borders between cultures. This is because the definition of “us”
becomes very clear when contrasted to a very different “them”. It’s a
nasty fact of humanity that people can show great altruism and kindness
to others, yet on an everyday level it is often nepotism – aggression
towards people out of your group – that rules. The origin of states
arises from small tribes lies that form strong bonds – which is
precisely what Asibiya is designed to explain.
Culture and religion are integrally related, and religion is an
aspect of culture that kingdoms have some reasonable control over.
Although switching between Christianity and Muslim faiths has been a long and painful process for many nations, religions can splinter off and yet remain fundamentally the same thing to the peasantry. Protestantism
appeared mostly as a response to Catholic domination and attempts to
influence politics. Although almost the same faith, the differences
create a strong “us and them” feeling in people – at least the nobles –
that allows wars to be justified and alliances forged. Yet both are
“us” when compared to their more different neighbours – Muslims, or the
Sikhs, or the Jews.
Differences in religion and culture in general control what is
acceptable and unacceptable in war, whether the enemy is just an ally
with the wrong king, or an inhuman devil. What do the populace think of
the king burning an enemy city? If there is little shared culture
with the city then people will be content, possibly even happy to see
the influx of “free” goods and slaves. But if people know people of
the persecuted culture, trade there, visit there on pilgrimage or have a
religious empathy for them, then they will object, strongly. In
ancient times, warfare often resulted in the burning of cities and the
taking of slaves. Conversely, during the late middle ages (and most
civil wars) the European nobility fight each other – and people do die –
but cities go on much as they always had because nobody would benefit
from harming the people.
