When democracies faced nazism and communism, conflicts were determined by different ideologies but the Western rational culture was common.

Instead, there is a cultural crash rather than one of ideologies.

Therefore, The American reprisal should above all consider they are facing a different logics that may derive in an unprecedented escalation.

In conclusion, the Western reaction must be strong and efficient in the face of an enemy that has given rise to a new phase in international security matters.

But understanding the cultural roots of the conflict is key to avoid hasty conclusions.

The conflict of today resembles the Crusades rather than the democracy-nazism or democracy-communism clashes.

The terrorist attacks that hit the United States are the result of the Middle East conflict.

In recent months, several fundamentalist groups threatened the world’s major country due to its support to the Israeli cause.

Finding out the people, organizations or countries that have perpetrated or encouraged the most serious terrorist attack in history, leads us to acknowledge the attack originates in the region of the planet that has given rise to three religions: Jewish, Christian and Muslim creeds.

The incident confirms that the defense and security systems mounted on top-notch technology, like the US architecture, are facing growing vulnerability as technology has increasingly democratized.

It must be noted a plane piloted by a teenager once put at stake the Soviet defenses in the ‘80s and that many times young people and even children have pervaded the Pentagon’s information networks.

But while this terrorist act underscores the vulnerability of technological systems, it also highlights the growing role of suicide terrorists, who destroy the logics of Western security systems largely based on preventing the perpetrator’s impunity than on averting his action.

US history shows that in the face of such an attack, the country joins efforts, moves and reacts quickly.

From this perspective, the likely scenario is that American military reprisals will be strong and based on military power.

But reprisals should be implemented within a rational framework since the Middle East conflict –it must be remembered Israel has nuclear armament and the Syrian short-range missiles can reach their facilities- and consequently a chain of reprisals can spark an unpredictable conflagration.

Latin America is not a major battleground of this conflict. However, globalization is a reality that not only affects the economy and communications but also politics and militaries.

Latin America is not the world region facing the most serious risks due to the consequences that may derive from the Middle East conflict and the terrorist aggression against the United States.

The area is far from the heart of the conflict –whether it be Washington or Jerusalem. It harbors no high-tech war-like weapons and the issue of fundamentalism has virtually no manifestations in this part of the world.

But amid this scenario, Argentina is the Latin American country closer to the risk of suffering any kind of consequence from this conflict escalation:

1) It is the only country in the region that suffered in the ‘90s two fundamentalist attacks claiming the lives of hundreds. Both incidents were certainly perpetrated by fundamentalist terrorist groups beyond controversies around the group that perpetrated it and its local link. Thus, in the last decade, Argentina was one of the major targets for fundamentalist terrorists.

2) It is the Latin American nation with the largest Jewish community. Along with the United States and Russia, Argentina is among the world’s three countries outside Israeli territory with a heavy Jewish presence. This in one of the factors –not the only one- that explains why is the regional country that has been hit by more fundamentalist attacks in the ‘90s. Since the conflict is based on the violence escalation between Israelis and Palestinians and the US support to the former, this situation may entail some sort of involvement of Argentina.

3) It is the only country in the region extra NATO member. While it is a diplomatic rather than military condition, as the US territory is the major target of fundamentalist terrorism, Argentina is more likely to be linked to the fundamentalist conflict.

To conclude, while Latin America is not the world spot that may be most affected by a escalation in the fundamentalist conflict derived from the attack against the United States, Argentina is, within this framework, the country in the region closer to suffer some of the consequences.

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