Muslims Have Not Won a War of Conquest In Centuries: WHY?

In this raw, unfiltered episode of Based Camp, Malcolm & Simone Collins tackle a politically explosive question: Why have Muslim-majority forces historically struggled to conquer and durably hold new territory from non-Muslim groups in modern times?

Malcolm walks through centuries of examples—from the rapid early Islamic expansions to Ottoman Janissaries (often Christian-origin elites), the Yom Kippur War debacle, Cyprus 1974, East Timor, Azerbaijan-Armenia clashes, and more—arguing that success often depended on non-Muslim leadership, extreme minority rule, or unified caliphates that quickly fractured.

They explore deeper patterns:

Coups & hierarchy: Why Muslim militaries tend toward rigid command (fear of coups) vs. decentralized Protestant/Jewish models

Idolatry & status-signaling: Protestant anti-idolatry aversion to luxury vs. opulent signaling in some Muslim/Persian/Catholic cultures

Delegation success: Early Islamic Golden Age thrived on minority rule + competent outsiders (Jews, Christians); later majority rule often shifted to abuse

Birth rates, delegation, and modern "solutions" (hire outsiders? Ban excess luxury?)

Heavy on pattern-noticing, historical exceptions, biological/cultural analogies (invasive species, extremophiles), and zero sacred cows. Expect spicy takes on religion, coups, multiculturalism, and why Protestants/Jews rarely stage military coups.

Perfect for fans of contrarian history, cross-cultural analysis, pronatalism, and unapologetic anthropology.

Timestamps below ↓

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Timestamps

[00:00:00] Intro: The thought that spiraled into this episode

[00:01:00] Early Islamic expansion vs. modern reality – invasive species analogy

[00:02:00] Yom Kippur War as a case study in mismatch

[00:04:00] Ottoman conquest of Egypt (1517) – why it doesn't fully count

[00:05:00] Janissaries: Christian-origin elite troops running the empire

[00:07:00] Hereditary Janissaries & Ottoman decline

[00:09:00] Recent "exceptions": Cyprus 1974, East Timor 1975, Azerbaijan-Armenia

[00:11:00] Mughal conquest of India (1526) – one of the last durable wins

[00:13:00] Muslim-on-Muslim wars vs. non-Muslim conquests

[00:15:00] Coup frequency: Protestants (~2 ever), Jews (basically zero), Catholics (frequent), Muslims (constant)

[00:18:00] Protestant revolutions raise new forces, don't co-opt existing militaries

[00:20:00] Last real Christian conquest by Muslims: Umayyad Iberia (711–718 CE)

[00:21:00] Birth rates reality check: High in welfare states, low at home

[00:23:00] Modern Muslim success formula: Delegate key roles to outsiders

[00:25:00] Islamic Golden Age – minority rule + playing groups against each other

[00:28:00] Comparison: Catholic vs. Muslim impact on science post-conquest

[00:31:00] Minority → majority shift: Tolerance flips to abuse (universal pattern)

[00:34:00] Multiculturalism needs cultural accountability (prejudice/xenophobia as enforcement)

[00:37:00] Early America example: Strong intra-group prejudices enabled cohesion

[00:41:00] Why early Islam exploded: Unified tribes + weakened Byzantium/Persia

[00:43:00] Fragmentation curse: Constant push to reunify before expanding

[00:45:00] Yom Kippur rigidity vs. Israeli decentralization

[00:47:00] Coup fear → hierarchical militaries → poor modern performance

[00:50:00] Protestant/Jewish cultural proximity vs. Catholic/Muslim overlap

[00:53:00] WWII performance: Catholic countries embarrassed, Protestant ones fought hard

[00:56:00] Simone's hypothesis: Protestant disdain for existing systems → build fresh

[00:58:00] Idolatry bans & anti-luxury attitudes prevent coup incentives

[01:02:00] Jewish opulence vs. Protestant farm life ideal

[01:05:00] Solution for Muslim revival? Tighten idolatry/luxury rules + delegate

[01:08:00] Outro + personal update on AI/agent experiments