From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, writers in Western Europe gave a huge amount of thought to the Ottoman Empire. This was not just because it was a military threat, but because it had a social and political system that was fascinatingly different from their own. As they developed their ideas about it - and about the nature of Islam as a 'political' religion - their arguments became intertwined with many internal Western debates about power, religion, society, and war. Useful Enemies is the first-ever book to trace all these lines of argument during those three vital centuries in the development of Western political thought.