Liberal containment of Islamophobia serves counterinsurgency strategy, not tolerance

Evidence

For instance, when Florida pastor Terry Jones threatened to burn the Koran on the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Obama administration had to rein him in. This had less to do with Obama’s commitment to fighting Islamophobia and more to do with his administration’s emphasis on winning hearts and minds in the “Muslim world.” After reinforcing the notion that the United States was a nation built on religious tolerance, Obama said of Jones, in a television interview, that “I just want him to understand that this stunt that he is pulling could greatly endanger our young men and women in uniform who are in Iraq, who are in Afghanistan.” The turn to counterinsurgency meant that obvious provocations of this kind had to be managed even while the logic of empire was reinforced. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 574

Categorization

• XREF: Directly answers the reader’s guiding question: the line from a domestic Islamophobic act to imperial strategic management of the Muslim world. — connects to: Blind terrorism provokes blind repression, polarizing and hardening a conflict; Rushdie argues the Islamophobia concept protects the intolerant and punishes critics — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 361; Islamophobic power can deploy oppositional tactics to advance Muslim marginalization (+23 more)

Broader Connections

• Liberal Islamophobia rejects Islam-bashing while enacting policies that target Muslims #corroborates (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 583
• Liberal Islamophobia is racist and imperialist despite its gentler rhetoric #corroborates (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 430
• Islamophobia is driven by state violence rather than mere ignorance #corroborates (0.70)
• State policies authorizing suspicion are the cornerstone of dialectical Islamophobia #corroborates (0.70) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 136
• Islamophobia has material and political causes beyond ignorance or xenophobia #corroborates (0.65) — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 706
• Islamophobia is political rather than religious and must be fought politically #corroborates (0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 576
• Islamophobia is systemic and institutionalized, not merely individual prejudice #corroborates (0.60) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 641