It was generally a peaceful method of setting personal and social example of moral and caring behavior so others will join Islam because of its clear advantage for human desire for better, honest and non-violent life. But during history especially in the early days of Islam, Jihad by sword was an acceptable method, although never the only option. By its definition Jihad is therefore, global.
Yes there is a global Jihad that wishes to establish Islam every where in the world through acts of terrorism and religion imposition. The war is best understood as a global insurgency, initiated by a diffuse grouping of Islamist movements that seek to remake Islam role in the world order. They use terrorism as their primary but not as their sole tactic. Therefore they offer the best approach to defeating global jihad but in a single country.
David J. Kilcullen theory is devoted to counterinsurgency (COIN). He focuses on the human and his security. The theory disregards what may sound right in favor of what actually works in the face of terrorism. Instead of attacking terrorists and in thus killing people Kilcullen focuses on providing security instead. The theory advocates that America ought not to wage its war on terror by targeting the enemy directly but by using all means, military and civilian, to protect indigenous locals from the enemy living among them, thereby drawing the locals to their safe side.
Therefore question would be answered through establishing what is the role of Jihad and what cultural conflicts it is imposing on the world and how it needs to be solved by providing security to other people who sometime maybe Islam but are not propagating the terrorism ideologies. The way to go here is to provide security to the whole world where global jihad is rooted instead of using violence which is likely to kill other innocent people in the world. (Kilcullen, 2009)
The death of Osama bin Laden over the weekend symbolizes a war against terrorism that was global. However something to note is that this is not a war against the Islam world initiated by the west. Islam is not the new enemy...
The celebration of Osama's death across the board signifies that the world and not only America is no longer divided by cultural factors.
Lewis and Huntington theories are under threat because the world has become a global market and thus the issue of culture is fading away unlike before when each nation was independent. Economic and political nature of globalization coupled with the rapid advances in communication is driving the world to be a global village with one civilization and different cultures.
The theories are losing meaning due to the migration and interactions of people. Cultures have been diluted as people move from one area to another. The new and emerging narratives that advocates for democracy in all countries show a shift from the cultural shift where the rights of people are recognized, justice is carried out and all other components that bring democracy.
Certain types of inequality, in particular, will be seen to be particularly fertile ground for conflict; other types maybe more benign. And if the attempt to reduce poverty through economic growth lead to initial increases in the 'wrong' type of inequality, the conflicts this engenders may dissipate beneficial effects of poverty reduction on conflict.
Lastly due to the activeness of terrorism and its impact on the world, for instance the September 11 bombings, there are drastic measures that are being applied to stop the violent waves castrated by the terrorist. This saw the killings of Osama through violence measure. The use of force or violence has been the emerging narratives replacing dialogue in situations to fight terrorism
REFERENCES
Edward W. Said, The Class of Ignorance, Vintage, New York, 2000.
Hardcover, Globalization, Poverty and Conflict: A Critical 'Development' Reader:; 1 edition. Amazon, 2004
Huntington, Samuel and Schuster, The Clash of Civilizations and The Remarking of World Order, Touchstone, New York, 1996
Kilcullen, David, The Accidental Guerilla: Fighting small wars in the midst of a big one, 2009
