Genghis Khan and the Creation of the Modern World

In 1200 the Islamic world was on the brink of a scientific revolution while Sung China was on the brink of a technological and proto-industrial revolution which could have changed the entire history of the world.  But instead of that both Islamic and Chinese civilization slipped into decline, with the scientific and technological revolutions halted by the destruction of key libraries, and by growing chauvanism, religious bigotry and ethnocentrism which prevented knowledge from outside these civilizations which would have been essential to the continuation of these scientific and technological revolutions from continuing.

But why did this happen?

The answer lies in the catastrophic impact of one man - father poisoned when he was 12, left to die on the steppe with his family - who created the largest land empire the world has ever seen and who single-handedly destroyed the confidence and openness of the two most advanced civilizations in the world, opening the way for the Western domination of the world.

This man was Genghiz Khan and this essay is an intriguing analysis of his impact on the history of the world.