The Foreign Service Journal, September 2004

F O C U S S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 4 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 47 Averroes and Avicenna) transmitted to the West the fruits of Arabic mathematics and science (algebra and the concept of “zero” are Arab inventions and the West abandoned the cumbersome Roman numerical system for the Arabic) and a rich body of classical Greek writ- ings that they had translated into Arabic and thus pre- served. But from that zenith of Muslim dominance, Islam suffered a steady succession of attacks and reversals, beginning with the Crusades. Baghdad was destroyed by Hulagu Khan (Genghis’ grandson) in 1258; the Cordova Sultanate fell in 1492; the Muslim advance in the Mediterranean was stopped at Lepanto in 1571 and in Europe at Vienna in 1683; the British put an end to the Mogul Empire in 1858; and the Ottoman Empire collapsed at the end of World War I. Then came a new era of Western (largely French and British) Christian imperialism beginning during World War I that produced further Arab humiliations like the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 and the Balfour Declaration of 1917; the United Nations-spon- sored partition plan and the establishment of Israel in Muslim-majority territory in 1947-48; and the Cold War-era increase in Western support of authoritarian and corrupt Arab regimes for the purpose of securing oil supplies, necessitating an expanding military and political presence in the area for the U.S. And fairly or not, it is that prominence that renders us, the predom- inant symbol of the West, such an effective scapegoat for bin Laden and his supporters. The Way Ahead In some respects, we have done fairly well in deal- ing with al-Qaida since 9/11. Working with other gov- ernments, we have destroyed or captured key members of its leadership, uncovered many of its sleeper cells around the world, and disrupted its financing and com- munications networks by careful intelligence and police work. We have materially improved our defens- es at home, although many holes remain and may be