Peace in this huge and strategically vital region – and thus in the world – can prevail only if its countries manage, despite their turmoil, to protect themselves from ideological extremes and political excesses. The importance of this should be abundantly clear to Westerners, whose modern civilization grew out of religious dissent that was initially met by the violence of the Inquisition and the Counter-Reformation.
这片广袤而具有战略关键意义的地区的和平——世界亦然——唯有在地区内国家战胜动荡，保护自己免于意识形态极端和政治过度的情况下才能维持。这一点的重要性对于西方人来说早已耳熟能详，他们的现代文明正是成长于宗教异见之中，而这些宗教异见，一开始也遭遇了宗教法庭和反宗教改革者的暴力阻挠。如果伊斯兰教（特别是中东）也跨上相同的轨迹，那么该地区的长期动荡迟是必然之势。相互谅解是让后果缓和的唯一办法。