At the heart of the story are two groups, the American neo-conservatists and the radical Islamists. Both were idealists who were born out of the failure of the Liberal dream to build a better world and both, had a very similar explanation for what had caused that failure.
These two groups have changed the world but not in the way that either intended. Together they created today's nightmare vision of a secret organised evil that threatens the world, a fantasy that politicians then found restored their power and authority in a disillusioned age.