"It is not Islam or the culture of Muslims but an ideology called Global Islamism caused terrorism," says Lord Meghnad Desai, in his new book 'Rethinking Islamism -- The Ideology of the New Terror'. He was discussing his book at a function today at the IIC here.

Desai, who is a Labour peer in the House of Lords, asked people to understand Islam better and also "a critical distinction between Islam as a religion and Islamism as an ideology in the sense of militant mindset...Global Islamism should be treated as an ideology rather than a religion."

Desai said global terrorism was the creation of Osama bin Laden in the last decade of the 20th century. "People have underestimated him. Osama has turned Islam into an ideology, which has become so powerful that may outlive him".

The 196-page book has six chapters, including The Ideology of Global Islamism; Wanting the War against Terror; and Winning the War against the Terrorism. The book, according to the author, was written after the London blasts (7/7) during his Christmas break in 2005.