This was the question that Abdallah Azzam, the Palestinian godfather of pan-Islamist radicalism, asked in the autumn of 1989. The new situation he faced was the prospect of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan and the need for a new strategy for the pan-Islamist armed movement.
Azzam delivered his answer in a sermon in Peshawar, Pakistan. It was simple: The movement must consolidate its position in Afghanistan, seize control of Pakistan, capture the Arabian Peninsula and, having created a solid power base, liberate Kashmir and the then Soviet-held Central Asia before destroying the United States. A few days after that sermon, Azzam was killed in a car bomb attack.