The Conflict

In order to better understand the nature of the Arab and Muslim response to the September 11 attacks, it is important to revisit what many believed to be the root causes that led to the tragedy and motivated the attackers. The reduction of complex histories and motives to pat stereotypes or phrases can be dangerously misleading and prevent the analysis necessary to halt future attacks.

Religious

• Muslim fundamentalists, as well as other religious fundamentalists, remain deeply suspicious of any new world order, and many have used religion to usher in the destruction of others to return to an idealized society. In other religions fundamentalists have provided numerous examples throughout modern and ancient history of similar such actions.
• Singling out any religious extremist group can deflect attention from the root causes of conflict, such as extreme wealth disparities...