Noel Malcolm, "Useful Enemies: Islam and the Ottoman Empire in Western Political Thought, 1450-1750" (Oxford UP, 2019)

In this episode of New Books in Eastern European Studies, Vladislav Lilić interviews Sir Noel Malcolm about his book, "Useful Enemies: Islam and the Ottoman Empire in Western Political Thought, 1450 to 1750." They discuss the genesis of the book, Western perceptions of the Ottoman Empire after the fall of Constantinople, the use of the Ottoman image in Western religious conflicts, and the evolving concept of Ottoman despotism in European thought. Malcolm argues that Western Europeans viewed the Ottoman Empire not just as a military threat but also as an intellectual resource, influencing political thought and debates within Europe. He also critiques Edward Said's theory of Orientalism, arguing that it doesn't fully capture the complex and varied ways in which Westerners wrote about the Ottoman world.