My contention, however, is that the primary cause of most present conflicts in which the West is now engaged is not religion nor foreign policy, but culture. Culture is the radix of which the individual conflicts over specific aspects of Western policies are often enough merely symptomatic, and which lends them an aspect of bitterness and terror. It is this “clash of civilizations” that makes the protagonists implacable–and the resultant conflicts potentially far more deadly. Mere interests can “cut a deal”; cultures, however, cannot compromise their key characteristics without ceasing to exist.

Meic Pearse, Why the Rest Hates the West: Understanding the Roots of Global Rage, (IVP, 2004) 28.