A broad-ranging assessment of relations between the Muslim and Western worlds in the contemporary era set in the context of the way these have evolved historically. Arguing that the relations have been marked by long periods of peaceful coexistence, but also by many instances of tension, hostility and mutual recrimination, Amin Saikal assesses the impact of the continuing Arab-Israeli conflict, the consequences of the Iranian revolution and of the wars in the Gulf and Afghanistan, and charts a course for future co-existence.