Yesterday my friend Jake sent me a link to a website that I found absolutely fascinating. Those of you who, like me, are interested in history will find it equally compelling.

The site is called "Maps of War," and the URL is http://www.mapsofwar.com/ind/imperial-history.html. A click on the interactive map will start a 90-second program which shows the various empires that have ruled the area we call today the Middle East from the time of the Egyptian pharoahs to the present day - a period of over 5000 years. There are other maps and interactive photo displays on the site, so be sure to scroll through and enjoy all there is to learn.

The biggest lesson I took away from watching the 90-second animation of one empire dissolving into another over the centuries was that - regardless of what third-world apologists and people with no sense of history want to believe - imperialism is not a White Northern European invention. If anything, the European cultures were Johnny-come-latelys to the business of conquering and ruling other nations and cultures...and this particular map display shows only Europe and the Middle East. How many Asiatic empires rose and fell while subjugating their neighbors?

So, the next time someone armed with passion but no knowledge complains bitterly about how Western countries have screwed up the world, direct them to this site so that they can see that the West is only the latest in a long history of imperial wannabe's stretching back many thousands of years. A little balance in one's understanding of history is a good thing.

More thoughts later.

Bilbo