Religious war rhetoric loses force and gives way to nationalism

Evidence

But as the war dragged on and the Iraqi side presented the conflict in ethnic terms (Arabs versus Persians) and received support from other Arab countries (with the exception of Syria), the regime’s religious rhetoric of sacrifice and martyrdom lost some of its persuasive power. It was combined with, and replaced largely by, nationalist propaganda that portrayed the war as a patriotic duty to defend the Islamic homeland against a Ba’athist Arab aggressor. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 1730

Categorization

• QUESTION: Counterpoint to sacralization thesis: when the enemy frames the conflict in ethnic/territorial terms, religious mobilization rhetoric decays in persuasive power mid-crisis — relevant to what happens when framing shifts.
• XREF: connects to: When one manufactured enemy faded, nationalism simply found a new target form — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 1398; Needing mass mobilization against a fellow-Muslim foe made revolutionary Iran embrace nationalism — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 1748; Christian nationalists collaborate with Russia because they reject America’s pluralist founding ideal — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers: Inside the…, 1064 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• When one manufactured enemy faded, nationalism simply found a new target form #expands (0.75) — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 1398