1. An atheist childhood --
2. The origins of Islam --
3. The empire of the world --
4. Jerusalem, Jerusalem --
5. Ottomanism --
6. The joys of heresy --
7. Women versus the eternal masculine --
8. A spring of memory --
9. The roots of Wahhabism --
10. The kingdom of corruption --
11. Zionism, the First Oil War, resistance --
12. Marginal notes on the chapter of defeats --
13. The anti-imperialism of fools --
14. An ocean of terror --
15. The case of Anwar Shaikh --
16. Plain tales from Pakistan --
17. Afghanistan: between hammer and anvil --
18. The story of Kashmir --
19. The colour khaki --
20. A short-course history of US imperialism --
21. September surprise --
22. Letter to a young Muslim --
23. A small town in Java --
24. Islam on the equator --
25. A tropical gulag --
26. An island made secure.

The aerial attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, a global spectacle of unprecedented dimensions, generated an enormous volume of commentary. The inviolability of the American mainland, breached for the first time since 1812, led to extravagant proclamations by the pundits. It was a new world-historical turning point. The 21st century, once greeted triumphantly as marking the dawn of a worldwide neo-liberal civilization, suddenly became menaced. The choice presented from the White House and its supporters was to stand shoulder-to-shoulder against terrorism or be damned. These assumptions are challenged, with the argument that what we have experienced is the return of History in a horrific form, with religious symbols playing a part on both sides: 'Allah's revenge, ' 'God is on Our Side' and 'God Bless America.' The visible violence of September 11 was the response to the invisible violence that has been inflicted on countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Palestine and Chechnya. Some of this has been the direct responsibility of the United States and Russia.