1. The embattled West -- 2. Rethinking war and culture -- 3. Watching the rising sun : observing Japan at war -- 4. The ghost of Genghis : Mongols and the Western imagination -- 5. Exotic enemy? : America, the Taliban and the fog of culture -- 6. Hizballa, Israel and the 2006 'July War' : the divine victory -- Conclusion. Beyond the Wild East