Pivot Cities in the Rise and Fall of Civilizations

Preface

Part I. Intellectual Experiences and Methodological Framework

1. Introduction: Intellectual Background

I. My First Encounters with Cities: Traces of Place

II. From Empirical Consciousness to Theory: Civilizational Self-Perception and Cities

2. Critical Analysis of City Historiography: A Methodological Framework

I. Methodological Criticism

II. An Exemplary Analysis of Methodological Dilemma: Ottoman Cities in City Historiography

III. The City as the Subject of the History of Civilizations: Classification of Pivot Cities

3. Civilization-Founding Pivot Cities: Pioneering Cities

I. Pataliputra: A Model of Spatial and Social Order

II. Athens: Cultural Center of Civilizational Continuity

III. From Rome to Pax Romana: From a City to an Imperial Political Order

IV. Medina: A Prototype for Cities of Islamic Civilization

4. Pivot Cities Founded by a Civilization: The Rise of Cities as Political Centers after the Formation of a Civilizational Paradigm

I. The Islamic City: The Building of "New Medinas" in Different Cultural Basins

II. The Power Centers of Western Civilization: Modernity and Ascendant Cities

5. Pivot Cities Transplanted During the Formation of Civilizations: Alexandrian, Ottoman and Modern Networks of Cities

I. The Alexandrian Cities and Civilizational Interaction

II. The Ottoman-Seljuk City Tradition on the Khorasan-Anatolia-Rumelia Line

III. Modern Economo-Politics Transfer Cities

6. "Ghost Cities": The Decline of Pivot Cities Through Power Shifts and Civilizational Transformation

I. The Era of Ascendancy: Binding Different Cultural Geographies

II. The Era of Decline: End of the Multicultural Social Environment

III. Ultimate Destiny: From Pivotal Role to a "Ghost City"

7. "Lost Cities": Pivot Cities Liquidated with a Civilization

I. Invasion

II. End of Political Dominance

III. Historical Non-existence

8. Pivot Cities on Lines of Geoeconomic/Geocultural Interaction: Centers of Civilizational Encounters

I. The Mesopotamia-Anatolia-Levant Line

II. The Central Asia-Iran-India Line

III. The Central Asia-Steppes Line

IV. The Andalusia-North Africa-Sahara Line

9. Jerusalem: The Soul of Civilizations’ History and Spiritual Transformation

I. Formation and Legacy of Jerusalem: Inter-civilizational Background

II. Efforts to Destroy Jerusalem and the Defiant City Spirit: Babylonians and Romans

III. The Recovery of City Spirit and Continuity: Omar, the Ayyubids and the Ottomans

IV. Attempts to Establish a One-Dimensional City: Crusaders and Israel

10. Cairo and Civilizational Interaction: The Transformative Power of Place

I. Civilizational Interaction of Internal and External Elements

II. Civilizational Encounters of Intellectual/Spiritual Legacy of Humankind

III. Civilizational Pluralism: Cultural Fabric and Architectural Heritage

11. Istanbul: A Civilization-Blending Subject City

I. Istanbul as an Ancient Synthesis Between Two Diverse Constituent/Pioneer City Prototypes: Rome and Medina

II. Conquest and Reconquista: The Two Faces of Military Expansion in Europe

III. Istanbul as the Pivot City of Civilizational Transformation

IV. City Culture and Architectural Change

Biography

Ahmet Davutoğlu served as the Prime Minister of the 62^nd, 63^rd, and 64^th governments of the Republic of Turkey. Prior to this, he was Chief Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister, and Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is the first leader of the newly formed Future Party. In his academic career, he has held the position of professor at Marmara and Beykent Universities, Turkey, and the International Islamic University of Malaysia. He is the author of many books including Alternative Paradigms (1994), Civilizational Transformation and the Muslim World (1994), Stratejik Derinlik [Strategic Depths] (2015) and Systemic Earthquake and the Struggle for World Order (2020). He has received several awards, including the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service in 2010. He was named as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine in 2010, 2011, and 2012, and as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by Time magazine in 2012.

"A fascinating and conceptually illuminating overview of how crucial cities reflect flourishing civilizations. The author has an astonishing grasp of significant world cities, exhibiting a love of hallowed urban spaces gracefully fused with a deep knowledge of the historic impacts of what he intriguingly calls 'pivot cities.'"

Richard Falk, Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University, USA

"Ahmet Davutoğlu’s Pivot Cities in the Rise and Fall of Civilizations is a significant contribution to efforts to build genuinely inclusive and pluralist visions of humanity considering the challenges of globalization that mark our time. It focuses on urban centers where distinctive cultural/civilizational traditions formed, interacted, adjusted, and flourished while maintaining their essential qualities – or melted away.

Davutoğlu examines the experience of a broad range of cities comparatively across time and space. This approach provides historical depth and geographical breadth to his analyses of cultural and structural change and continuity. A new perspective calls for methodical adjustments. Davutoğlu challenges exclusive models of linear urban development toward a predestined end as defined by western European experience. He also advocates a holistic approach that highlights structural change and material achievements along with the ontological and axiological qualities of respective urban cultural zones.

Davutoğlu pays special attention to spatial spread and architectural landmarks of a city. They serve as mirrors of the normative and aesthetic values that distinguish an urban cultural or civilizational tradition and its interaction with others. Davutoğlu’s normally scholarly and impressively erudite social scientific language acquires a lyrical quality in his discussion of architecture, enabling the reader to feel the beauty and meaning of the settings he describes. This lyricism adds to the quality of Pivot Cities in the Rise and Fall of Civilizations, enhancing its appeal for dialogue, reflection, and broad vision toward a more meaningful and peaceful world."

Engin Deniz Akarli, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History at Brown University, USA