Inside Islam, edited by John Miller and Aaron Kenedi, contains an excellent analysis of the roots of Islam-based terrorism - "Why they hate us" by Fareed Zakaria, "Newsweek", October 15, 2001. See also the Newsweek version for some interesting current links.
The rise of fundamentalist Islam and the rage that feeds it is not centuries old, but decades old. It arises from the failed states that have arisen from half-hearted attempts at modernization based on Western ideas - socialism, secularism, and nationalism, all of which have shaped the successful states of Europe and North America. These states failed because they were ruled from the top down with little opportunity for participation or discussion from the people. In fact, any dissent was quickly squelched.
America is seen as the supporter of these failed regimes and the purveyor of the modernism that has failed the people.
Writing shortly after the 9/11 attacks, Zakaria makes the case for a three-point counter-attack against terrorism and its supporters - military, political, and cultural. The U.S. has partially succeeded on the military front, but it has failed or has not even tried on the political and cultural front.
The U.S. succeeded militarily in disrupting Al Qaeda, but its invasion of Iraq and subsequent political failure to fill the vacuum have spawned thousands of wannabee terrorists. The U.S. has also failed politically by alienating potential allies with its "our way or the highway" tough-talking bravado. It has utterly failed culturally because our leaders have little understanding of Islamic culture, especially Arab culture. See my article "Know thine enemy".
I don't hold much hope for change as long as we have a foreign policy for an election cycle rather than a foreign policy for a century.
