There is a lot of free floating violence out there and to blame it on clash of civilizations is incorrect. So, when Shias and Sunnis are targeting each other in the streets of Karachi and Samarra and Jaish Al-Mahdi clashes with Al-Qaida (both Arabs)is it still explained by a clash of civilizations? When Iran feels threatened by an 'Islamic bomb' (that can fall into the hands of Al Qaida and sundry Sunni fundamentalists) and would risk international sanctions in the pursuit of uranium enrichment is it a clash of civilizations?
Huntington has become the favoured one for reactionary forces world over but putting aside blinkers one can see realpolitik at play.
There is indeed an axis of evil from the US perspective. The efforts by North Korea (with active support from China) to keep key US ally Japan on tenterhooks is real.The efforts by Iran the chief patron of the Hezbollah to deal (US ally in the middle east) Israel a bloody nose is not without purpose. China tacitly supports Pakistan/Iran/Hezbollah at the UN.
China/Russia are grappling US/NATO/India over central asia. Chinese hegemony will remain a real threat to US/India long after Islamic terrorism is vanquished
