I like a number of points you make in the posts 29 -33, and, please, allow me to contribute a few words here.
In regards of Africa irrelevance and isolation as the most basic form of accommodation:
Muslim world is a source of oil. Or better put: OIL. It’s the biggest and often the only significant source of income for those countries. If not the OIL, they would be irrelevant as Africa now and easily ignored.
There is a good argument that they need us as much as we need them: somebody has to buy their oil to give them money after all. But the recent events show that normal economic pragmatism is not always in the picture. Islamist put their religious fanatical ideas ahead of the economics. They would have no problem to cut the oil supply at least for a while, create panic on the world markets, deeper recession, etc. They don’t control all oil in the world, of course, but more than enough to do a lot of damage. Iraq has no problem to starve their own population, in the same time building palaces and arming the army, and blame us for the starvation. They do sell oil now, and they do have more than enough resources not to have starving children. It’s not their priority though.
Osama’s brand of fanatics would do the same after getting control over the oil fields. Almost all oil-rich regimes in the area are sitting on the islamist powder keg ready to blow up. If not the ruthlessness of the current rulers, it would happen already. Normal people in all overtaken countries would suffer, but fanatics would not even notice. They have shown willingness to die for their idea. They did attack us. They want war. They asked for war. (I think they underestimated us, but it’s another story…) So, they would not think twice to shut down the oil supply, and sit back and enjoy a nice western chaos.
My point is: despite how much I personally wish, as we stand now, does not look like the West can simply separate from the Muslim world, shut the doors, and let them brew.