Not sure who wrote that but this isn't really a "global" network, despite what Euros thought to be the "world" at that time. Intercontinental sure, but that I don't think mattered much in their minds.
>Europe recovered from the destruction and mayhem of invasions and war
It was part of it, but if we are talking about economy, economic reasons should be mentioned.
First it was Western Europe not whole of Europe. To mention two extremes: the Germanic north was a backward shithole anyway and not much changed in Eastern Rome - or even in the large cities of the Mediterranean in the West.
And then what really tore out Western Europe from the exchange of products was the self-sufficient feudal economy - which is rooted in the latifundias and the rising colonus system of Imperial Rome. Self-sufficiency means no need for outside source of goods and they don't produce surplus which could be sold anywhere else. If noone buys or sells, no need for money either.
As for the rest of the "world". The Arab conquest of the center of this trade system meant a great turbulence, their vigorous fanaticism through the existing power structures into a disarray. It needed some time until the rearrangement solidified.