Comparing the situation of the Abbasid caliphate with other empires shows the geographic and environmental disadvantages of an empire based in Iraq. This chapter highlights the misconceptions surrounding the term "caliphate," and shows how the legacy of the Abbasids and their adaptability to various times can represent a bridge to the modern period. From their openness to various sources of learning in the early period to the inclusive spirit of the later Abbasids with the accommodation of Sufism, the caliphs - far from being the intolerant stereotype portrayed in modern journalism - were in many ways the patrons for a more inclusive frame of society, and central facilitators of change.