AH Challenge: Islamic/Christian political reversal.

[eschaton]

The year is 2005. The Christian world is mainly a collection of absolute monarchs, dictatorial presidents, with some scattered Christian republics where people can vote but the church has extensive veto power over the people's votes. There are a scattered few true democratic republics on the periphery (analogues to Turkey, or Indonesia), but on the whole they are very much in the minority.

On the other hand, the vast majority of the muslim world has open political debate with multiple parties, a free press, universal sufferage and a fairly minimal level of political corruption.

POD whenever you wish, though bonus points the later you can get it. Extra bonus points if you can do it without making the muslim world stronger geopolitically than the christian world.

[Grey Wolf]

How about an uber Ottoman Empire that eventually stretches from the Sahara over Arabia, Eastern Europe, the Crimea, the Caucasus and across Central Asia as far as Kashgaria

Faced against this, the Christian kingdoms centralise and turn insular

The Ottoman dominion becomes a centre for enlightened Islamic studies, a cultural powerhouse across the Indian Ocean and into Indo-China and Indonesia.

With time, the central authority weakens so that the constituent parts, whilst still acknowledging the Sultan as Caliph become de facto independent states where Islamic Enlightenment rules

Grey Wolf

[Forum Lurker]

To stifle Christian democracy, we need to stop English Parliamentarianism. A strong and capable successor to Cromwell seems like a good idea; a continuing Lord Protectorate can butterfly the French Revolution into a religiously-driven uprising, and Christian law can be spread throughout Europe as was the Napoleonic Code in OTL.