The second result of the Arabs' increased involvement in trade is the contact it gives them with the outside world.

The Persians and the Romans are the great powers in the Near East in the centuries before the advent of Islam, and the Arab tribes that border these territories are drawn into their political affairs.

After 400, both empires pay Arab tribes not only to protect their southern borders but also to harass the borders of their adversaries.

In the long term, however, it is the people that travel with the camel caravans and their ideas that are most important.