Biden’s return to liberal Islamophobia continues imperial drone and Israel policies.

Evidence

Most significantly, Trump eschewed the “good Muslim, bad Muslim” approach (with the exception of Saudi Arabia) and opened the door to right-wing Islamophobia. Biden has rejected this approach. We might therefore expect a return to liberal Islamophobia and the accommodationist approach. However, Biden has stated his intention to continue Trump’s policy to withdraw military forces from the “forever wars” and to use drone warfare instead. While he has promised to take a more critical stance toward Israel, this will likely involve a return to the Obama era during which Israel was supported with significant financial and military aid. Further, he has proposed to end the “maximum pressure” policy and reengage Tehran in negotiations. In short, as of this writing, it appears that the United States is headed into a third Obama term with a multiracial and female-heavy leadership team ensuring a process where neoliberal multiculturalism, as it has in the past, will paper over racist imperial policies. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 532

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Connects directly to the vault’s Islamophobia-as-imperial-policy cluster: the liberal/accommodationist Islamophobia distinction here mirrors the Aziz framing of ‘good Muslim bad Muslim’ and could sharpen the liberal-vs-right racism axis.
• XREF: Plausibly connects to Rana’s, Aziz’s, and Abdulhadi’s typology of Islamophobia that distinguishes right-wing from liberal imperial variants — Kumar is positioning Biden as continuity, not rupture. — connects to: Biden premised returning to liberal empire rather than ending imperial policies; Obama’s liberal-rhetoric foreign policy continued Bush-era imperial military operations. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 513; Trump’s anti-Muslim measures continue rather than depart from prior policy — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 129 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Liberal-reformist Islamophobia remains imperial racism cloaked in benevolence #expands (0.92) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 500
• Biden premised returning to liberal empire rather than ending imperial policies #corroborates (0.90)
• US Islamophobia has liberal and conservative wings, both imperial #expands (0.90) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 380
• Neoliberal multiculturalism masks racist imperial policy under Biden #corroborates (0.85)
• Trump abandoned the good-bad Muslim distinction but Biden restores it #expands (0.85)
• Trump’s anti-Muslim measures continue rather than depart from prior policy #corroborates (0.82) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 129
• Obama’s liberal-rhetoric foreign policy continued Bush-era imperial military operations. #corroborates (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 513
• Liberal security politics amplified right-wing Islamophobia’s reach and power #expands (0.80)
• Liberal Muslim-American leaders were co-opted into rebranding imperial policy #expands (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 496
• Public anti-Islamophobia stances can function as a cover for pro-Israel politics #expands (0.78) — Evelyn Alsultany, Antisemitism and Islamophobia The…, 35