Despair fueled the bomb attack on U.S. soldiers in Dhahran, writes one of the Arab world's foremost novelists -- a despair born of a profoundly unequal relationship between America and the countries of the Arabian Peninsula. Unless that imbalance is remedied, fundamentalism will spread and turn violent. PNS commentator Abdelrahman Munif, author of the "Cities of Salt" trilogy, was stripped of his Saudi citizenship for political reasons. Former director of planning for the Syrian Oil Company, he lives in Damascus. This article was translated from Arabic by Peter Theroux, author of "Sandstorms" (W.W. Norton).

DAMASCUS -- The bomb attack on U.S. soldiers in Dhahran was an expression of despair over a profoundly unequal relationship between two peoples. That is not to say the violence was justified but rather that the inequality must be remedied. There is a need to treat the causes of despair, not merely the symptoms.

I speak as a novelist who follows events, and tries to understand them. I have no way of dealing with them other than with words. In my book "Cities of Salt," I wrote about the dangerous relationship between America and the countries of the Arabian Peninsula. Now it appears that what I imagined and expected -- that the salt would dissolve in water -- has begun.

The spread of fundamentalism, especially its violent aspect, results from an accumulation of errors. The people behind the movement's current hard line were recruited as youths, then nurtured in Afghanistan, and ultimately sent on to Bosnia, all with the enthusiastic support of the United States and Saudi Arabia. He who sows the wind, as the saying goes, will reap the whirlwind.

Fundamentalism will spread in the Gulf region and possibly turn more violent because no political movement or party offers a formula for acknowledging ordinary people and engaging them in the political process.

The United States, obsessed with oil fever and the need to control it, has gone much too far in protecting regimes and individuals unworthy of its protection. The Iraqi regime committed one mistake by invading Kuwait, but the U.S. followed this by committing an even graver mistake. Instead of fighting the Gulf War to liberate Kuwait, it sought to subdue the region and make it compliant -- bringing shame on every person in it. Those who paid the price of the war weren't the rulers but the ordinary people.

When a person experiences humiliation, insult and sacrifice, he will take whatever action necessary to defend himself. This creates an atmosphere conducive to violence. Current U.S. policy makes everyone feel insulted and discriminated against. The Dhahran attack is not an event orchestrated by outside forces but rather an expression of deep internal feelings of bitterness and injury.

Fueling this state of discontent is the nature and extent of the U.S.-Israel relationship which represents a provocation to every Arab person, and every Muslim as well. Unless a more balanced and less biased policy is adopted, anti-Americanism will spread, leading ultimately to total estrangement at the popular level.

America wants regimes and rulers that are wholly compliant with it. It does not want partners or equal relationships. While this sort of client regime may have worked in the past, it no longer represents a model for stability in the future. Indeed, it is the worst way to bring two sides together. It creates a psychological barrier between them, and makes it impossible for either to know what is going on in the minds and hearts of the other.

The victims in Dhahran perished as the result of mistaken policies and an unequal relationship between the two peoples. This calls for reevaluation. Absent such a process I am more apprehensive about the future than ever.