Terrorism and the economy : how the war on terror is bankrupting the world / Loretta Napoleoni.

Dubai: the rise of Islamic finance -- The money trail: Islamic finance in the Bahamas -- The war on terror: America's suicidal mission -- The reversal of the crusades -- Bleeding America bankrupt: Bin Laden fulfills his dream -- The USA PATRIOT Act: a self-inflicted wound -- Oil as a retaliatory weapon -- Scenes from the global house of cards -- The bubble bursts -- The politics of fear -- Las Vegas and Dubai : "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the richest of them all?" -- The danger of protectionism -- A new economic model.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 153-157) and index.

"Economist Loretta Napoleoni traces the link between the finances of the war on terror and the global economic crisis, finding connections from Dubai to London to Las Vegas that politicians and the media have at best ignored. In launching military and propaganda wars in the Middle East, America overlooked the war of economic independence waged by Al-Qaeda. The Patriot Act boosted the black market economy, and the war on terror prompted a rise in oil prices that led to food riots and distracted governments from the trillion-dollar machinations of Wall Street. Consumers and taxpayers, spurred by propaganda fears, were lured into crushing global debt. Napoleoni shows that if we do not face up to the many serious connections between our response to 9/11 and the financial crisis, we will never work our way out of the looming global recession that now threatens our way of life."--BOOK JACKET.