In his book about the emergence of Islam as a global presence, Ali A. Mazrui opens with a question that is apt to raise eyebrows. He begins with the Toynbean theory of challenge and response - in the case of the Roman empire, it failed to find creative responses to the challenge of emergent Christianity. The result can be stated almost in Darwinian terms: Rome was not among the fittest and so did not survive. Can we draw an analogy to today's relationship between the American empire and Islam? There is little doubt that Islam poses a challenge to our received notions of an American way of life, but is America finding creative ways to respond?

I don't think I'm giving away the farm by revealing that Mazrui rejects the military option.  History demonstrates repeatedly that the application of military muscle as a means of control is a formula for failure. There are a couple reasons for this. First, the harder you push, the more resistance you meet. And second, the very fact that you feel compelled to push reveals your moral vulnerabilities. In the case of America, the resort to force is understandable. It is a convenient, short–term solution to a perceived threat. But is it a creative response? Will it bring lasting peace? When we raise our children, we encourage them to look to the larger consequences of those behaviours aimed at immediate gratification. Why do we authorize our leaders to behave like children? The values we hope to instill in our children we fail to apply to ourselves.

The book's title presents the two major influences which act as oppressive forces upon Islam. The first, globalization, is the cultural and economic face of American empire - the ideology of freedom (or at least of market freedom) is sold to the third world with characteristic efficiency. At the risk of being reductive, there is a twofold purpose in preaching the good news of the market economy: first, it helps to stabilize those regions that can help sate America's deep thirst for oil; and second, it develops new markets for American products, which are purchased with capital raised from the sale of that oil.

What America gives with one hand, it takes with the other, leaving behind shiny baubles of questionable value - electronic gizmos, teeth-whitener, and skin–tight jeans. This is precisely the method applied by Americans white ancestors when they first landed on the shores of the new world and hoped to coax goods from the local inhabitants. This little story names the chief source of conflict between the West and Islam - oil. Cultural and religious differences are secondary.