Are these simply isolated events? Or is Europe in the grip of a new wave of Islamophobia?

First, the books described by writer and critic Pankaj Mishra in a long polemical article in The Guardian as works of “Eurabia-mongers” who believe that Europe is about to be “over-run” by Muslims with at least one American writer claiming that they are already “conquering Europe’s cities, street by street.”

A common theme running through these books is that Europe’s 53 million-strong Muslim population is a “demographic time-bomb” which needs to be defused immediately if the continent does not want to end up as “Eurabia.” The solution is simple if stark: keep Muslims out of Europe and, if necessary, throw them out. Some of the suggestions on how to deal with the Muslim “problem” amount to ethnic cleansing. -- Hasan Suroor

We almost lost sight of a profound pre-9/11 background to the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan. The U.S. intended to recognise the Taliban regime in Kabul in 1996. Senior Taliban officials were welcomed in the U.S. Big Oil financed the Taliban. The U.S. encouraged the Central Asian states to work with the Taliban. Key U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates generously helped the Taliban and accorded it diplomatic recognition. A major NATO ally, Turkey, kept up official consultations with the Taliban regime right till 2001.....

Islamism will remain a principal instrument of geo-strategy for the U.S. towards Central Asia, North Caucasus and Xinjiang. The rehabilitation of the Taliban in Afghan mainstream politics is on the cards even without its formal disarming. India needs to factor in what the ascendance of political Islam in the region will entail for its security. Equally, there should be clarity of thinking to differentiate between shades of Islamism. The imperative of seriously engaging Russia, China, Iran and the Central Asian states on issues of regional security as powers affected by extremism emanating from the AfPak belt cannot but be stressed. -- M. K. Bhadrakumar

By Asghar Ali Engineer