Postwar Islamic anti-imperial anger transferred from Europe to the superpowers

Evidence

Most of the Muslim world was now ruled by independent governments, and the external forces and influences that still affected them came not from Europe, but from the two new superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States of Amer­ ica. Though the cultures of both of these derived from European roots, they had grown into something different and distinctive, and after some initial misun­ derstandings, this fact was well-recognized in most of the Islamic world. Alien power and alien penetration were still very much an issue in these lands, but since they were no longer seen as European, Muslims, even the most passionate, were able to see Europe in a more friendly, or at least a more neutral, light. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 692

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Cold War history of the non-aligned movement and how Muslim-majority states positioned themselves between Washington and Moscow. — connects to: Pan-Islamism replaced pan-Arabism as the leading anti-imperialist force. — Youssef Cherif, Neo-pan-Arabism: a renewed contract of…, 40; Islamism rose as the left’s demise left Muslim rage with no other outlet — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1439