When Worlds Collide Exploring the Ideological and Political Foundations of the Clash of Civilizations

This provocative and timely book challenges conventional wisdom that the introspective Wahhabi movement or classic Islamic doctrines are the root causes of modern Middle East terrorism. Instead, the author persuasively argues that current regional unrest stems directly from internal perceptions of relative political and economic deprivation as well as from ad hoc abortive efforts by tunnel-visioned Western intelligence agencies to co-opt radical regional political-religious elements as opposing forces against other emerging global ideologies deemed more politically dangerous at the time.

Gene W. Heck serves as an adjunct professor of government and history with the University of Maryland.