If the following historical overview demonstrates anything, it is that both discontinuity and continuity characterize the link between premodern and modern hostilities toward Islam. The most obvious discontinuity involves the overt theological interpretations of Islam at work in the Middle Ages, such as the common medieval conviction that Islam was a form of Christian heresy. By the time we reach the modern era, Western critics are much less concerned with demonizing Islam in order to promote and protect a particular version of orthodox Christianity. An important continuity pertains to the political rationale behind presenting Muslims as the ultimate enemies. From the Middle Ages to the twenty-first century, the West has feared Muslims because it has seen them as significant obstacles and threats to the building and preservation of Western empires and nations. Put simply, Western perceptions of Muslims as religious and political rivals drive most of the antagonistic renderings of Islam throughout history, with political rationales increasingly dominating religious ones in the modern period.

Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Intro…, loc. 106