The author examines the interactions between the West and the Muslim world overtime, trying to trace the development of political Islam and discovering how theWest played a central role in this evolution. Critically analyzing the debate in theU.S. and American policies towards the Muslim world, the author concludes that the U.S. itself needs to be contained in order to prevent further mistakes.When the event we know as 9/11 happened, I was in New York City.As the weeks rolled by, and I read the American Press to try and makesense of the kind of debate that was developing, I was struck by reportsthat more and more Americans were going to bookshops to buy copiesof the Koran to understand the motivation of those who hijacked the planes, anddrove them into the Twin Towers. Soon the New York Times was telling us thatthe Koran was amongst one of the highest selling books in American bookshops.After some time there was the American invasion of Afghanistan and then ofIraq. I wondered how many Afghanis and Iraqis were going to bookshops to buycopies of the Bible to gain an understanding into the motivation of those whowere dropping bombs on them. Like others, I knew that President Bush claimedto have a direct connection with God and claimed to be inspired from above.And, yet, I somehow did not think that many Afghanis or Iraqis were going tothe Bible to find a clue as to why America was bombing them. So I asked myself- why the difference...Please click here to read the text in full.