There is nothing like standing at the intersection of Europe and Asia to think about the clash of civilizations -- and how we might avoid it.

Make no mistake: we are living at a remarkable hinge of history and it's not clear how it's going to swing.

Whether these tensions explode into a real clash of civilizations will depend a great deal on whether we build bridges or dig ditches between the West and Islam in three key places — Turkey, Iraq and Israel-Palestine.