Liberal Muslim-American leaders were co-opted into rebranding imperial policy

Evidence

In January 2007, a leadership group on US–Muslim relations headed by Madeleine Albright, Richard Armitage (former deputy secretary of state under George W. Bush), several academics like Vali Nasr and Jessica Stern, and Muslim Americans like Daisy Khan and Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf (who appear again in Chapter 7) produced a report titled Changing Course: A New Direction for US Relations with the Muslim World. The report was produced with the assistance of various “good Muslims,” who had a seat at the table in the Obama administration. … In its opening pages, it states that distrust of the United States in Muslim-majority countries was the product of “policies and actions—not a clash of civilizations.” It went on to argue that to defeat “violent extremists,” military force was necessary but not sufficient and that the United States needed to forge “diplomatic, political, economic, and cultural initiatives.” … This was a return to Clintonian liberal imperialism, with its emphasis on diplomacy and markets. … The report’s call to action stated that it would be vital for the next president to talk about improving relations with Muslim-majority countries in his or her inaugural speech and to reaffirm the US “commitment to prohibit all forms of torture.” — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 496

Categorization

• XREF: Names Daisy Khan and Feisal Abdul Rauf as ‘good Muslims’ co-opted — connects to the vault’s good-Muslim/bad-Muslim framing in Aziz’s work and to the Cordoba House controversy later. — connects to: Obama’s liberalism and right-wing Muslim-baiting both served US imperial hegemony — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 512; Biden’s return to liberal Islamophobia continues imperial drone and Israel policies. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 532; Liberal inclusion of ‘good Muslims’ requires acquiescence to American empire (+9 more)
• SEED: Article angle: how 2007’s ‘Changing Course’ report pre-plotted the script of Obama’s Cairo speech — manufactured continuity of empire dressed as change.

Broader Connections

• Liberal inclusion of ‘good Muslims’ requires acquiescence to American empire #corroborates (0.90)
• Liberal inclusion of good Muslims is conditional on embracing empire #corroborates (0.90)
• US administrations used symbolic inclusion of Islam to recruit Muslims into state interests. #corroborates (0.90)
• Liberal anti-clash rhetoric remains imperial racism assuming US stewardship of Muslim societies #expands (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 512
• American imperialism, Orientalism, coercive assimilation, and White supremacy jointly produce racialized Muslim categories #expands (0.85) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 80
• US Islamophobia has liberal and conservative wings, both imperial #expands (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 380
• The word freedom now signals American imperialism in Muslim-majority audiences #expands (0.80) — Evelyn Alsultany, Arabs and Muslims in the Media, 1348