The author considers whether the ongoing Islam-West conflict is the biggest threat to modern civilization. He examines whether postcolonial Islamist terror and anarchy are legacies of European colonial rule; whether the world has already entered the phase of history when terrorism is irrelevant; whether terrorism was ever a real threat to the US or the West; whether Islam is a religion of peace and not responsible for terror; whether the globalization process has created an uneven playing field for Western and Muslim nations and is responsible for the surge in Islamist militancy; whether the American military-industrial complex and Israel lobby are responsible for the Muslim-West divide; whether America is an empire and if its imperialistic behavior is the biggest threat to world peace; and whether Islamists are second to Russia, China, and others in conflicts with the US. He describes the different entities of Islam as a religion and as a political ideology; the Muslim-West conflict in historical and contemporary perspectives and in terms of the globalization process; the implications of the rise and decline of American hegemony in historical and contemporary terms; the concept of the global jihad and whether it is real Islam; the Islamist insurgency, transnational crime, “narco jihad,” and state-sponsored terrorism/proxy wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh; and the role of the nuclear threat from Iran and other states in the Muslim world in justifying American behavior and military interventions. Annotation ©2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)