To the editor:

I want to take exception with one statement made by the columnist Trudy Rubin in her otherwise excellent column of Sept. 11. Ms. Rubin states: “What’s most essential is for Americans to understand that the surge of jihadi terrorists is a historical phenomenon; born of the alienation created by globalization.” From what I have read, this is less a problem with globalization than it is, indeed, deeply rooted in Islam itself.

Bernard Lewis (2002) documents in “What Went Wrong: Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response” the ancient sources of Islamic decay as a culture. Efraim Karsh (2006) amply documents the unending imperialism of Islam since its origins in “Islamic Imperialism: A History.” The 2008 book titled “Defending the West (Prometheus)” by Ibn Warraq argues that the main problem of Islamic terrorism is Islam itself. He and Lewis argue that a major shortcoming in Islam is its inability to handle self-criticism, which inhibits its ability to adapt to change.

What has changed since 800 CE is better communications, more lethal weapons, greater mobility, and lots of oil revenues. The claim that the root cause of Islamic terrorism is globalization is shaky at best, given that Islamic terrorism is as old as Islam.

Kenneth D. Mackenzie,
Lawrence