It was due to this desperation that people in the Arab and Muslim world turned to Islam as a source of pride and identity. The Afghan war against the Soviet Empire symbolized the pinnacle of the Arab-Islamic backlash against communist regimes and heralded a revival of the glory of Islamic civilization. The Jihadist movements’ alliance with America in the Afghan war against the Soviets was therefore a tactical decision. The real political objective of the Islamist forces was to rid the Muslim world of all foreign domination, both physical and cultural; America, though a temporary ally, was no exception.

With the collapse of what both America and Islamists saw as the ultimate evil empire, the Islamic movements thought they had removed the biggest obstacle to achieving their dream of establishing Islamic regimes. It was, however, America’s military deployment to liberate Kuwait and the onset of globalization that dashed the hopes of the Islamic movements. They had to regroup and launch a new war of liberation, but this time against America and the American-backed regimes to which they had kowtowed in the past.

What is on the rise in the Muslim world, therefore, is not a leftist movement, but an Islamist uprising pushing an anti-globalization and anti-Americanism agenda. One may also argue that the leftist rise in Latin America somewhat echoes the same feeling of anti-Americanism. Nevertheless, in the absence of a unifying ideology, rebellious South American politicians can only find Che Guevara and Fidel Castro to serve as nationalist role models.

The undeniable fact, however, is that globalization and American cultural hegemony are winning the hearts and minds of the youth of the Arab and Muslim world. Younger generations speak the same language, use the same Internet, enter the same chat rooms, wear the same clothing fashions and hairstyles, go to the same cinemas, listen to the same music, drink the same coffee, and share the same American dream of getting rich and becoming famous one way or another. In light of this, all America needs to do to declare complete victory is to depend less on its military muscle and cruise missiles, and let its Starbucks chain, its Hollywood movies, its fashion industry and its cutting edge technology and business acumen win the war in a silent revolution.