My prediction is the largest market for this will be Arab armies. Unit cohesion is the biggest problem they face and they usually abandon their equipment when faced with force. [1]
Could be useful in magnifying the power though if a small number of well trained people, or a small ruling caste. Less vulnerable to losing power due to lack of military manpower.
On uneven ground in a combat zone, littered with god knows what and where a broken ankle might mean death? Boots please.
In that case, I would be out of place to assume you haven't experimented much with barefoot running :-)
> On uneven ground in a combat zone, littered with god knows what and where a broken ankle might mean death? Boots please.
That is a good point, tho I don't see boots making you faster , but I concede that the ankle support and steel toes would certainly be safer, and you're gonna be a lot slower with a broken ankle. So I still think barefoot you'd be faster, tho certainly less safe. If I were fleeing in battle, I might would rather gamble my safety for some speed, but it's probably highly situational. I suspect I've just wasted a lot of time analyzing a very unlikely scenario :-)
It's difficult for non-radicalized people to understand the mindset of a radicalized religious person (not limited to Muslims). Their belief is truly powerful enough to overcome the innate human fears and drive for self-preservation that we all have. It's both admirable, amazing, and terrifying at the same time.
The threat of extreme tortuous death at the hand your own group is also a strong motivating factor that keeps people from defecting should their faith wane or fail them. They typically witness the horror of torture first-hand, and don't want any part of that themselves.
For Arab nations, on the contrary, there is very little in terms of a cohesive national identity worth fighting for, especially in places like Iraq, Libya and Syria. Thus, soldiers in their armies are basically just taking a paycheck (especially since the economy is shit otherwise). In the face of horrible torture and execution by crucifixion, not hard to see why soldiers would collectively believe it's just not worth it.