Hypothesis: One of the primary factors driving Salafi-Jihadist into conflict with the United States and its allies lies in the incompatibility between the Westphalian system of an anarchical society of nation states and and the Islamist goal of a supranational Caliphate. The U.S. as a hegemonic actor which engages in preserving the status quo system of nation states sets itself at odds with attempts to create a supranational Islamic state.