Neoconservatives campaigned to replace the Soviet enemy with Islamism

Evidence

Even at this stage, though, “terrorists” did not replace the Soviet Union as the new global enemy of the United States; instead, the dominant thinking in policy circles was that Islamist organizations that used political violence were one force among many that could upset its post–Cold War vision. However, pockets of the ruling elite, particularly the neo-conservatives, began to write about “Islamic fundamentalism” as a potential key threat to US interests. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 414

What is noteworthy about the document, though, is that the enemies it named were diverse, and the list of national interests was broad. These included “access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil; proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles, threats to US citizens from terrorism or regional or local conflict, and threats to US society from narcotics trafficking.” Thus, “terrorism” was named as only one among several threats faced by the United States. In fact, Krauthammer’s article didn’t even mention terrorism, an omission for which he would later atone in an article where he stated that the “new threat [Islamism] is as evil as the old Evil Empire.” Several neocons and their sympathizers began to advance this notion that “Islamic terrorism” needed to be viewed as the new post–Cold War enemy. Daniel Pipes echoed this point, writing, “Like communism during the Cold War, Islam is a threat to the West.” In short, even before the events of 9/11, the neocons were attempting to replace the Soviet Union with a new archnemesis. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 443

Categorization

• XREF: Dates and names the neocon project of enemy-framing that Kumar’s book argues culminates in Muslim-as-enemy policy. — connects to: Neocons partnered with Likud to frame the terrorist as a civilizational threat — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 432; Neocons replaced the Soviet enemy with an Islamic civilizational threat; Neocons needed Islam as a unifying substitute for the USSR enemy (+12 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 414; Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 443

Broader Connections

• Neocons replaced the Soviet enemy with an Islamic civilizational threat #corroborates (1.00)
• Islam served neocons as a substitute Cold War enemy when the USSR collapsed #corroborates (0.98) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 675
• Neocons needed Islam as a unifying substitute for the USSR enemy #corroborates (0.95)
• Neoconservatives and Israel pushed Islamism as the post-Soviet enemy #expands (0.95)
• The Islamic-terror enemy replaced the Soviet Union as an archnemesis. #corroborates (0.90)
• The Muslim terrorist replaced the Soviet communist as the West’s public enemy number one #corroborates (0.90) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 259
• Neocons and Israel, not the whole establishment, first pushed Islamism as the new enemy #expands (0.90)
• Islam replaced communism as the West’s designated global enemy threat #corroborates (0.90)
• The Cold War’s end positioned Islam as communism’s replacement global threat #corroborates (0.85) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 240
• Key Islamophobic organizations trace their lineage to Cold War-era neocons #expands (0.80)
• Liberal imperialists and neocons both frame Islamism as the new totalitarianism requiring Western expungement #qualifies (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 570
• Both US parties frame Islamism as a new totalitarian enemy #qualifies (0.75)