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Firstly it would be a mistake to deny the diversity that existed in the Euro-Mediterranean area prior to Islamic expansion- but the area had something a commonon cultural legacy and identity. No sane person of the era would have said that someone in France had more culturally in common with a Scandinavian then a Levantine. They were part of an intact albeit fraying "civilisation", you might say.

Islam's expansion changed that, splitting the area in two-even if primarily on account of perception, perception itself has impact. So my question is this- could the area sense of common civilisation have remained intact- perhaps through Islam not existing or alternatively Islam ultimately becoming dominant in all of formerly Christian Europe, just as it did in the Middle East? Or was the emergence of a civilisational division between the two sides of the Mediterranean, the us vs. them mentality, inevitable?*

*In the sense for example that an Italian in the centuries following Islam's expansion up until today has more in common with a Swede then a Tunisian- it seems to me that such a situation is far from natural and could surely have been avoided(?).

**I'm not sure I've communicated what I'm trying to say very well, but I think the above Swede/Italian/Tunisian example is demonstrative- so if I've confused you, just focus on that example.
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