The risk of political transitions that may lead to the victory of Islamist parties is a democratic paradox that Europe and the US must accept if they are to devise inclusive reform policies – in other words, policies that are the polar opposite of the type of democratic imposition practiced in occupied Iraq. Indeed, one of the less fortunate consequences of the intervention in Iraq was to reinforce the notion of a “clash of civilizations” between the West from Islam, which in turn serves to create a climate favorable to Islamist movements.