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Islamists, Bawer asserts, often dominate the discourse because of a deadly mixture of timidity, alienation and racism. Moderate Muslims rarely challenge their radical brethren because they they see little gain in risking their necks for a society that holds them at arm's length. Meanwhile, the racism that infects indigenous Europeans has not led them to clamp down on malcontents but to adopt a form of political correctness that centers on the tolerance of even gross acts of intolerance.

Analysis by anecdote is always dicey, but Bawer catalogs many incidents in which officials excuse Muslim rapists because their Western victims "dressed provocatively," attribute gay-bashing incidents to general anger at "oppression" and anti-Semitic violence to Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. "Immigrants to Europe are allowed to perpetuate even the most atrocious aspects of their cultures," he writes, "but the flip side of this is that no one, including themselves, will ever think of them as Dutch or German or Swedish."

A perfect storm of historical forces has weakened Europe's ability to face these threats. Centuries of bloody wars and the long retreat from religion have made the continent wary of confrontation and strong beliefs. While Americans -- sometimes to our peril -- insist that there are things worth fighting for, Europeans do not. As we saw in the Balkans in the 1990s, when peaceful resolution fails, they are out of cards. Stepping provocatively into the land of Freud, Bawer quotes a Danish newspaper columnist who contends that Europe's history has spawned a cultural death wish among its leaders and indigenous people. " 'The Nazis made Europe think it is doomed and sinful ... and deserves what it has coming.' "

Thus the powder keg: A surging, alienated population with strong beliefs rubbing against established groups unable to change or defend their ways. The wild card is Western Europe's bloody history. It is tempting to believe that the 61 years of relative peace since Hitler's defeat is the norm. In fact, it is an anomaly. If Europe's enlightened leaders cannot face the future, its darker forces may be unleashed once more.

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