This book re-examines the issue of the Clash of Civilizations between Islam and the West through the concept of myth. Examining how such beliefs spread in both a Western and a Muslim context, the book argues that it has become a strong political tool.

Shows that the clash of civilizations has become a cognitive scheme through which people look at the world, a practical image on the basis of which they act on it, as well as a drama which mobilizes passions and emotions. This book is suitable for scholars and students of political science, sociology, philosophy, Middle Eastern politics and Islam.

"[T]he perspectives presented in this book shed an interesting new light on the myths-making processes underpinning the notion of a clash of civilizations. This work moves the debate away from sterile discussions about civilizations and highlights instead the value of analysing political myths as structuring and being structured by the social imaginary of specific political communities." - Frederic Volpi, University of St Andrews; Journal of Islamic Studies, vol 23, no 1, January 2012