Is the Saphartic Judaism a Cosmopolitan, Backwards Kingdom?

I associate ashkanazi judaism with orthodox dynasties, many of them which are strict in life style along certain dimensions that aren't very cosmopolitan. And i think of saphartic jews as kind of not being like that. It reminds me a lot of the difference between israel and judah, the two kingdoms. I mean, i do think that there's an echo there. But, you know, to be totally fair, also, there have always been many sapharti jews who are very strictly observant. So these are just generalizations, but there is a difference, and there is a real difference in perception. The sort of arch