Hard for us to admit, but it was our response to September 11th, 2001 that got us here. Osama bin Laden so successfully planned that attack to accomplish just what he wanted it to accomplish, the disruption of Western civilization. Bin Laden played the chess master up against checker player George W. Bush who swallowed the bait hook, line and sinker.
Just here in America we spent over $2 trillion in our Middle East wars, adding 5000 more Americans killed to the 3000 killed on 911. We have spent at least another trillion on homeland security and changed the way we live and think. Fear is costly.
Just another reminder, since 911 we have had 104 Americans shot and killed by Muslim terrorists here. In that same time we have had 185,000 [not counting suicides] Americans shot and killed by other Americans. Perspective.
In Europe the response to the terrorism from evangelical fundamentalist Islam gave rise to the white nationalism which is now on the edge of taking over legislatures in most of the European Christian world. It began long before Brexit and Trump.
Also here in America much of the blame can be put upon a 25 years of 24/7 of right-wing talk radio pushing nonsense to nitwits, which in turn gave rise to Fox News, which in turn gave rise to the right-wing web. Putting tens of millions of Americans in their own bubble of poop. With a much smarter than they are Black man in the White House topping it off.