Until then I fear the most calamitous spreading of the plague. Predictions are hazardous, of course, but I think the next battleground will be Europe.
Face it, Europe is the prize. Fortress America will remain a fortress for a while, except for a 9/11 here or there; but Europe is actually vulnerable to a combination of extremist attack and inner weakness. First terrorism, then an appeal to local sensibilities.
Europeans may well surrender some of their freedoms through the ballot. I'm not speaking, of course, of perfectly assimilated Muslims being elected to high office. These people are loyal and believe in a post-Enlightenment European dream.
I am speaking of large segments of the European population with a heavy Muslim presence voting for the partial adoption of Sharia law, or the institutionalization of local restrictions against women and gays, or the gradual erosion by legal means of other hard-won rights and freedoms. Those might spell the beginning of the end, though, as mentioned before, that curtain of darkness will not last forever either.
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