The CIA deliberately cultivated Islamist groups as Cold War counterweights to Nasserism

Evidence

Thus, in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood was cultivated to serve as a bulwark against Nasser, and in Iran, a group of clergy were encouraged as a challenge to Mossadegh. … As one senior CIA official put it, the optic was the Cold War. The Cold War was the defining clarity of the time. We saw Nasser as socialist, anti-Western, anti-Baghdad Pact, and we were looking for some sort of counterfoil. Saudi efforts to Islamicize the region were seen as powerful and effective and likely to be successful. We loved that. We had an ally against communism. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 389

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the pattern of US support for religious-conservative forces against secular leftists, echoing Cold War proxy strategies described elsewhere in the book. — connects to: Eisenhower’s doctrine secretly armed Islamist groups against secular nationalists.; The CIA cultivated the Muslim Brotherhood to counter Nasser’s pan-Arab nationalism; American Cold War strategy cultivated Islamists against secular nationalism — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 219 (+11 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 389

Broader Connections

• The CIA cultivated the Muslim Brotherhood to counter Nasser’s pan-Arab nationalism #expands (0.98)
• American Cold War strategy cultivated Islamists against secular nationalism #corroborates (0.95) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 219
• Eisenhower armed Islamist groups against secular nationalists during the Cold War #corroborates (0.92)
• Pan-Arab anticolonial unity prompted CIA support for the Muslim Brotherhood #expands (0.92)
• US cold-war strategy deliberately weaponized religion against nationalism and communism in Muslim regions #corroborates (0.90) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 388
• Governments’ own Cold War policies helped Islamists dominate Muslim political opposition #corroborates (0.85) — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 313
• The same Islamist figures who denounced the US conspired with the CIA against nationalists #expands (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 370
• Cold War logic led the US to fund Islamists even after Iran’s revolution #expands (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 247
• CIA Islamic-geopolitics strategy failed because elites preferred communism or nationalism #qualifies (0.78) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 391