The people who promote the “clash of civilizations” paradigm are predictable and unsurprising. They say that accommodation and multiculturalism don’t work at all, and while they may not say it out loud, their only solution seems to be genocide.

Now, clearly, the arms dealers and war profiteers are all about the “clash of civilizations” paradigm, but the idea that this paradigm is the only way to effectively deal with the hostile radical fringe flies in the face of history.

The West has been running with the “clash of civilizations” paradigm for more than a millenium, from the Crusades to the colonization of the Middle East by Western powers and the proxy wars that devolved from this, and where has it gotten us, except for the collapse of more secular regimes¹² and further radicalization of fringe elements?

The West effectively created Al Qaeda by arming and encouraging the mujahideen against the U.S.S.R.

The West effectively created ISIS by creating a power vacuum in Iraq and indiscriminately arming Syrian rebels.

ISIS is very interested in convincing people of the “clash of civilizations” paradigm, and I am convinced that people who want to push this paradigm are really all on the same side.

Being at a loss for words, I feel that anti-ISIS and anti-Assad Syrian blogger, Nader Atassi, has it right... pic.twitter.com/2YJZgBXeg1

— Megan Ellison (@meganeellison) November 14, 2015