Heck challenges the conventional wisdom that the Wahhabi movement or classic Islamic doctrines are the root causes of terrorism in the Middle East. Instead, he argues that modern Middle Eastern terrorism stems from aborted efforts by Western intelligence agencies to co-opt political Islam as an opposing force against other emerging global ideologies deemed more politically dangerous at the time. The greatest chance to neutralize these fringe elements lies not through the imposition of Anglo-American democracy but in the creation of constructive economic development programs that ensure the distribution of wealth to the economically disenfranchised.