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Synopsis The shift in the U.S. global role precipitated by the events of September 11,2001-although the events were unexpected-was a long time in the making. In this challenging work, Gilbert Achcar analyzes how this shift came about the examines its fateful consequences. Achcar's Clash of Barbarisms traces the rise of militant and anti-Western Islamic fundamentalism to its roots in U.S. policies aimed at control of the oil reserves of the Middle East, and above all, Saudi Arabia-the "Muslim Texas." Achcar examines the processes of class disintegration taking place in the Middle East today that provide fertile recruiting ground for Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda and shows how these processed are rooted in the interests and policies of American imperialism. This disintegration will be accelerated by the U.S. was on terrorism leading to new levels of destruction and disorder. In this context, we are living through a clash of barbarisms indeed. Important and timely, Clash of Barbarisms is already scheduled for publication in French, English, German, Turkish, Arabic and Korean.