In this work, Allan Trawinski will test, and disprove, the commonly held hypothesis that the present West–Near East Conflict is a relatively new development (since the founding of the State of Israel in 1948), is primarily driven by religion/culture (radical Islamic fundamentalism against Christianity/Judaism), and that terrorism is employed as the Near East’s primary method/weapon/tactic of choice, which could all be ended by solving the Palestinian-Israeli (religious) problem, ending radical terrorism, becoming energy independent, liberating the region from despots, and establishing prosperous economic and democratic regimes in their wakes. Consequently, he will test and prove his own counterhypothesis that the present West–Near East Conflict is a part of a continuous 3,275-year conflict that is secular (geopolitical/economic), as much as, or more than, ideological (religious/cultural), in nature, and that terrorism has, only until very recently, played a relatively minor role as the Near East’s primary method/weapon/tactic of choice.
