Experts on Islam believe that if the U.S. response to terrorist attacks is perceived in Islamic countries as a war against their religion, support could unravel the international coalition needed to wage a successful war on terrorism. An internationally recognized scholar of Islam and a law professor at Emory University in Atlanta said that if the United States appears to be fighting Islam, there would be riots in the streets, a breakdown of law and order and a toppling of regimes in Islamic countries.