American Cold War strategy cultivated Islamists against secular nationalism

Evidence

In the context of the Cold War, the United States had two objectives in the Middle East: to control the flow of oil and to keep the Soviet Union out. After an initial period when it tried to bring radical secular nationalists into the fold, it turned against them. This meant cultivating all forces that could counter radical secular nationalism and communism. At the top of this list were the Islamists. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 219

Categorization

• XREF: Directly connects to the reader’s guiding question on the myth that Islamists were always enemies — complements Grosfoguel/Rana/Selod on racialized statecraft. — connects to: Algeria diversified its foreign help across Cold War blocs.; US facilitated Muslim violence when it served Cold War interests — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 288; Pakistan’s Cold War clienthood aligned it against Third World anti-imperial sentiment (+31 more)

Broader Connections

• Cold War logic led the US to fund Islamists even after Iran’s revolution #corroborates (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 247
• Political Islam emerged from failures of secularism, Stalinism, and crises, aided by US sponsorship #corroborates (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 371
• Israel licensed Hamas’s predecessor because Islamists opposed the secular left #exemplifies (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 399
• US support for Islamists continued in the 1980s despite threats to Israel #corroborates (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 264
• Arab regimes in the 1970s deliberately backed Islamists against secular nationalists and the left #expands (0.70) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 372
• Palestinian Islamists were accused by nationalists and leftists of serving Israeli occupation #exemplifies (0.65) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 319
• Political Islam’s rise depended on the collapse of secular nationalism #qualifies (0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 312
• Structural adjustment opened political space that Islamists filled with welfare services #expands (0.55) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 339
• Iran’s 1979 revolution redirected US fear from secular nationalism to Islamism #complicates (0.50) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 246