Occidentalism

Buruma and Margalit explore the roots of radical Islam, revealing that its anti-Western outlook is deeply intertwined with Western historical and philosophical influences. They trace a recurring pattern of revolutionary movements opposing Western values, highlighting shared themes such as the hero versus the bourgeois, the rootless cosmopolitan versus a society rooted in tradition, and conspiratorial visions of Western control. While the anti-Western sentiment has found fertile ground in the Islamic world, the authors emphasize that this worldview is not exclusive to Islam and has a broader historical context.