Obama’s liberalism and right-wing Muslim-baiting both served US imperial hegemony

Evidence

The document continues, “US forces will no longer be sized to conduct large-scale, prolonged stability operations.” Instead, the political class drew the lesson that the way to achieve its objectives is through missions like the NATO military campaign in Libya, which involved air power and relied on local allies on the ground. In sum, Obama’s imperial posture involved trying to establish US hegemony in Asia (preventing the rise of China) and in the Middle East (containing Iran) through multilateral alliances and the use of air strikes, drone attacks, counterterrorism, and special operations forces as well as cyber warfare. In short, despite the Right’s charge that Obama was a “secret Muslim agent” working on behalf of foreign governments, he was in reality a liberal imperialist at the helm of a nation trying to reassert its domination in an increasingly multipolar world. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 512

Categorization

• XREF: Directly dialogues with the Islamophobia-as-imperial-policy cluster in the vault; Kumar here rebuts Rana/Aziz-adjacent framing by insisting Obama’s ‘liberal’ posture was itself imperial. — connects to: Obama rhetorically embraced the Arab Spring while funding its counterrevolutionaries — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 506; US Islamophobia has liberal and conservative wings, both imperial — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 380; Liberal Islamophobia under Obama worsened conditions for Muslims at home and abroad — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 436 (+7 more)
• ADDENDUM: Supports the ‘On Sacrifice’ angle only obliquely — actually this sharpens that Islamophobia functions across party lines as both parties serve empire, contradicting any claim it is uniquely right-wing.

Broader Connections

• US Islamophobia has liberal and conservative wings, both imperial #corroborates (0.92) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 380
• Liberal Islamophobia and right-wing racism are interchangeable imperial instruments #corroborates (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 544
• Liberal Islamophobia is racist and imperialist despite its gentler rhetoric #corroborates (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 430
• Anti-Muslim racialization is bipartisan and flourished under the Obama administration #corroborates (0.85)
• Liberal Islamophobia under Obama worsened conditions for Muslims at home and abroad #qualifies (0.78) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 436
• Liberal Muslim-American leaders were co-opted into rebranding imperial policy #expands (0.75) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 496
• Obama-era counterterrorism propaganda used multicultural imagery to mask imperial policy #expands (0.72) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 614
• Liberal security politics amplified right-wing Islamophobia’s reach and power #expands (0.72)