The 1967 defeat and 1970s economic crisis fueled political Islam’s rise.

Evidence

What explains the resurgence of political Islam in the 1970s? Two factors are worth highlighting. The first is the defeat of a coalition of Arab militaries from Egypt, Syria, and Jordan in the Six-Day War against Israel in 1967. The defeat resulted in the loss of Sinai, the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem to Israel. It also generated widespread frustration in the Middle East with the leadership of Arab nations and the inability of existing political regimes, including those grounded in secular nationalism, to exert power against Israel and Western interests. The second is the major economic crisis that swept through the Middle East in the 1970s and that capitalist economic systems seemed powerless to handle. The perception emerged that existing regimes were failing because they relied too much on Western political and economic models. Calls for a return to Islam and the establishment of Islamic states grew louder. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 250

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Islamism rose from secular nationalist failure, left weakness, and economic crises — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 323; Political Islam’s rise depended on the collapse of secular nationalism — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 312; Political Islam emerged from failures of secularism, Stalinism, and crises, aided by US sponsorship — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 371 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Islamism rose from secular nationalist failure, left weakness, and economic crises #corroborates (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 323
• Political Islam emerged from failures of secularism, Stalinism, and crises, aided by US sponsorship #expands (0.70) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 371
• Arab regimes in the 1970s deliberately backed Islamists against secular nationalists and the left #expands (0.70) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 372
• Political Islam is a modern urban phenomenon born of capitalist crisis, not medieval revival #expands (0.65) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 342
• Saudi economic influence after 1973 hardened religious politics and toppled Bhutto #expands (0.65)
• Political Islam’s rise depended on the collapse of secular nationalism #corroborates (0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 312
• Western banks and Chicago-school neoliberals financed the rise of Islamism #expands (0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 241