As we have seen, the notion of "Oriental despotism" was developed in the eighteenth century by writers like Montesquieu, who argued that the hot climate of the East made Orientals supine and submissive and thus unable to resist tyranny. The Orientalists gave this theory academic credibility by stating that despotism was one of the core values of "Islamic civilization." And modernization theory would make it even more scientific by suggesting that "traditional" societies were characterized by hierarchical systems of power. Since, these theorists argued, change would never come from within, it was the burden of the West to civilize, modernize, and democratize the East. This "white man's burden" argument has been used, in different forms and guises, by every imperial power since.

XREF: Connects to Edward Said's Orientalism and the genealogy of the white man's burden across successive imperial powers.

Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politi…, loc. 200