The Islamic-terror enemy replaced the Soviet Union as an archnemesis.

Evidence

What we see in both the Soviet-Afghan War and the rise of al-Qaeda is the emergence of a radical version of Islamism that developed a violent jihadist ideology in an effort to resist and defeat the two great superpowers of the Cold War. The United States may have supported this ideology during the Soviet-Afghan War because it was a convenient tool in undermining its Cold War nemesis, but, eventually, some of the mujahideen turned from ally to enemy. By the time of 9/11, the Muslim terrorist, with some assistance from the United States’ Cold War tactics, had replaced the Soviet communist as public enemy number one. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 259 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

By the mid-1990s, terrorism by Muslims became the global threat that replaced Communism. American pundits and politicians, looking for a new enemy, replaced the Red Scare with the so-called Green Menace. No longer useful as American proxies to fight the Soviets, Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda were the face of the new enemy. Once portrayed as freedom fighters in America’s global war on Communism, these mujahideen who formed Al-Qaeda in the 1990s now opposed US military presence on Saudi Arabian soil. They were the new enemies in America’s burgeoning War on Terror. Muslims who engaged in political violence were no longer insurgents; they were savages to be killed in warfare. The Arab (Palestinian) terrorist trope was morphing into the Muslim terrorist trope. — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 667 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The 1984 conference framed terrorism as state-sponsored by Soviet Union and Iran; Neoconservatives campaigned to replace the Soviet enemy with Islamism — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 414; Islam served neocons as a substitute Cold War enemy when the USSR collapsed — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 675 (+15 more)

Broader Connections

• The Muslim terrorist replaced the Soviet communist as the West’s public enemy number one #corroborates (0.98) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 259
• Islam replaced communism as the West’s designated global enemy threat #corroborates (0.97)
• Islam replaced communism as the U.S. constructed menace #corroborates (0.95) — Junaid Rana, Terrifying Muslims, 302
• America recycled its Cold War enemy frame from Communism to Muslims. #corroborates (0.95) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 667
• The Cold War’s end positioned Islam as communism’s replacement global threat #corroborates (0.93) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 240
• Practicing Islam functionally replaced Communism as the most threatening subversive activity #corroborates (0.90) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 476
• Islam replaced communism as the West’s fear narrative after 1979 #corroborates (0.85) — Sherene Razack, Casting Out, 90
• Neocons needed Islam as a unifying substitute for the USSR enemy #complicates (0.82)
• The Cold War’s end left Islam and the West mutually perceived threats #qualifies (0.78) — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 246
• Communism’s collapse left West and Islam as mutual perceived threats #qualifies (0.78) — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 246
• Science fiction aliens substituted Islam for Communism after Soviet power ended #exemplifies (0.75) — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 686
• Cold War American identity was built on performed hatred of the Soviet Union. #expands (0.74) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 220
• Soviet defeat in 1989 legitimized and globalized the Islamist militant movement #expands (0.72) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 257