There seems to be a strong yet misplaced sense of vindication among those who believe that irreconcilable differences have brought east and west to the threshold of a definitive clash. This myth has spread fast on the heels of distorted portrayals of Islam that followed terrorist attacks in New York, London, Istanbul and elsewhere.

A closer look at these events, however, reveals that the big conflict is not between east and west but within the east itself. The Near East, frail and forlorn, faces the threat of imploding and passing away as we know it.