What Went Wrong ? Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response by Bernard Lewis
Oxford University Press, 2002: Oxford
It is, after all, a clash of civilizations. At a minimum, one ought to refresh one's understanding of the big picture, the one framed by the centuries, and this short but brilliant book by the West's unimpeachable authority on Islamic history and culture is just the ticket for scholar and layman alike.
After Lewis's sterling example, I'll keep this concise, too. Have you read this book ? Do you have the broad grasp of history which it presents ? Are you fluent in at least one Middle Eastern language ? If you cannot answer in the affirmative to one or more of these questions, then I'm not interested in what you have to say about the region, the current crises, or the global or domestic ramifications thereof. Call me back when you've got up to speed.