From the dawn of history and continuing until extinction, Middle East peoples will cling zealously to remain bandit cultures, preying on their pastoral base and each other. But that will only endure as long as similar cultures and geographic barriers surround them.
They want to be an oasis in Time and left alone, but with the concept of Distance itself becoming obsolete, they have no buffer or insulation from the West.
Single-minded concentration on grasping the Past, results in losing ground to a pernicious global TechInterlock that needs universal participation for its own survival.
The absence of technocracy and its attendant materialism in that region of the world creates a void that becomes a niche that is irresistible for Western culture to fill.

And primitives cannot avoid technological lures.
Who can resist shoes that are made so that one shoe no longer fits either foot; but a right foot gets a shoe shaped for it, and a left gets its own? Zippers instead of string? Glasses instead of squinting? A journey measured in hours instead of seasons?
Impossible to be a purist. With the interconnectivity of material goods, one thing always leads to another. And all these material goods have invisible (and blatant) webs, connecting to basic concepts and assumptions of 'how the Universe works'; and in their use, impose ramifications and connotations that will erode their culture.

They fear sublimation into what they perceive we are becoming---a hive culture of cyborgs.
Consciously aware of this, or instinctually reacting (They say they hate us, but can't articulate why.), they resent us with the sure knowledge that they are being devoured. And strike back to take us to the level of social, political, economic, and technological collapse; where they can deal with us on ground they understand, bandit chief to bandit chief.
With tools we ourselves created, they are attempting to disassemble our culture to the level of theirs.

As we perceive it, a decent into a feudal police state extolling primitivism as its goal.

But which culture would be best prepared to survive the next catastrophic asteroid strike or supervolcano? Which would care enough to be aware of it and develop the tools to deal with it? The one who has craft now in orbit around Mars, or the one still riding on donkeys?
The response of our culture is to mold the future. That is going to conflict with cultures who see the future as something acted out upon them. A crisis is seen as a test of our culture's innovation, while theirs see it as a test of Faith to remain unchanging and steadfast.

Which culture gives the most options for species survival by the greatest diversity and adaptability? This culture is not a good choice for humanity's soul, but it is the best choice for humanity's physical survival. And that says a lot about what directions our cultures have grown themselves into.
Solitary bonzai or ubiquitous fungus.

And this is the crux...are we active instruments, experimenting with our own future; or are we passive instruments in a destiny designed by an outside force?
The push for a common World View is precipitating a choice. Functioning on a global level requires it, much like the global manufacturing quality standards now in place.

Co-existence is not likely because our culture seems to have traded Hope for Certainty. We would rather exchange Freedom for Security. We've abandoned Tribalism for Homogeneous Unity.
We don't have the self-control or selfless compassion to preserve non-assimilating cultures. And on their part, they want our magical things without the involvement that's integral to them.

So the shape of the battles' outcome seems to be either a theocratic stone-age, or a technocratic universal consumer mall.

Anyone who declares that he wants my death and destruction; whether they're on the other side of the globe, or in the next city block; is my enemy.
There are places you don't wander into, if you don't know that, you won't live long; and to pretend otherwise is absolutely foolish.
An enemy may not know me personally, but if I'm lumped into a catagory he hates, the outcome to me will be the same.
Do you think the 'death to Americans' chant is a mild political slogan like "I like Ike"? Are they little children to be dismissed with a 'tsk, tsk, there, there' and ignored, hoping they'll grow up?
Do they have reason to hate? Who doesn't? What peoples haven't migrated, forcing others to move, or been forced themselves? All through history, tides of people have swept this way and that, and we are stuck with the muddied result.

Mutually exclusive world views cannot co-exist, except on the most vapid NewAgeWeenie level. (If your world view is that capable of compromise, you've built a house of cards on sand.)

Technology has us all crammed together, just like back in prehistory when war was invented. No more open frontiers to bleed the pressure anymore. No surprise there will be war; there's bound to be a steady drumbeat of war. There is no way we ourselves can come to grips with that part of our nature that leads to war. And all the wishful positive sweet thoughts will no more make peace, than wishful positive sweet thoughts will make my flapping arms fly.