The attacks of 9/11 have been broadly misunderstood. In assessing the meaning and significance of "the war on terror," the author of this book raises many issues related to the Middle East and American policy toward that region. He debunks the entire "exceptionalist" approach to the Arab world (the presumption that Arab societies fail to be fathomed by Western social science). While stressing the need for resolving the war on terrorism favourably, he also suggests two broad policy recommendations. First, he argues that while the U.S. should maintain its firm commitment to Israel's preservation, it has no corresponding duty to support Israeli expansionism. Second, the author concludes that an American withdrawal from Iraq must be effected as early as possible. The author's provocative thesis is that the attacks of 9/11 were not as unique an event as we commonly believe. Rather, they were understandable - though deplorable - human reactions to a combination of factors that fuelled the Arab world's marginalisation and led to a generalised feeling among the people of that region that the West (and particularly the United States) posed a mortal threat to their identity. Employing three case studies of marginalised violent conflict - Mexico's Zapatista conflict, Egypt's struggle against the Gama'a allslamiyya, and Nigeria's fight against the Ogoni people in the Niger Delta - the author demonstrates the dynamics through which "traditional" peoples have in modern times opted to wage hopeless struggle against objectively more powerful states. The parallels between these situations and the Islamist insurgency against the West are striking, and help us gain a better understanding of the meaning of 9/11.