The Western-Islamic “Clash of Civilizations”: The Inadvertent Contribution of the Bush Presidency

Abstract

This article argues that policies of the Bush administration since 11 September 2001, have had -- perhaps inadvertently -- the effect of generating "facts on the ground" that have led to the self-fulfilling realization of realities corresponding to Samuel Huntington's contentious concept of the "clash of civilizations" in relations between the Western and Islamic “worlds”. One of the significant indicators of this phenomenon has been the counterproductive, self-defeating impact of the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq on the "war on terror," with all available information, even from the CIA and other U.S. governmental sources, agreeing that the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq has actually become more a part of the problem than of the solution. In addition to documenting the perhaps counter-intuitive impact of President Bush's policies on exacerbating the factors making for global terrorism -- and enhancing the motivation of those who are prepared to give up their lives in the execution of acts of catastrophic terrorism -- the article briefly explores policies that could turn this situation around.