ROMAN-ARAB CULTURAL SYNTHESIS?
Michael Vlahos: So don't look for a Muslim majority in Europe anytime soon. But the Arab minority in Roman Europe will more than double by 2050, while there will be many millions fewer Spanish and Italians. The bow-wave of the Arab "boomer" generation, buoyed by aggressive illegal immigration, could still push the proportion of Muslims in France, Italy, and Spain up to a quarter or even a third of their populations.

Even more significant will be the comparative age structure over the next couple generations. Because of the unexampled number of young Arabs that will enter adulthood during this time, the percentage of European Muslims will account for an even higher proportion of adults in their most productive years: their 20s, 30s, and 40s. As the Arab boomer generations move through time, they will come to occupy -- for at least a slice of historical time -- a unique demographic space. Even if Muslims in Roman Europe still only represent 20 to 25 percent of the total population, working adults may reach 40 percent or more. And this will hold for the duration of an era.

That era -- from 2010 to 2050 -- could alter the nature of European civilization...

Read the whole fascinating story on the potential development of a Roman-Arab synthesis -- now in the making?