The US alternately armed and opposed Islamist forces to preserve its regional domination.
Evidence
Chapter 4 outlines the contradictory policy pursued by the US political elite toward the parties of political Islam. During the Cold War and up until the Iranian revolution of 1979, the United States enthusiastically supported forces that could Islamize the Middle East and serve as a counter to those that posed a challenge to its domination—secular nationalists and the left. In the period after the 1970s, policy makers forged alliances with those Islamists who were on the side of US imperialism and militated against those who refused to play this role. Even after 9/11, when Islamists in general were projected as the arch enemy of the United States, the aforementioned approach would continue. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 29
Categorization
- XREF: The US backing Islamists against secular nationalists parallels how Israel-related imperial strategy pits proxies against national-liberation movements — the Palestine link the reader is tracing. — connects to: Supporting repressive regimes gives the U.S. military incentive to block democratization.; US support for the mujahideen inadvertently seeded the creation of al-Qaeda — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 257; US refusal to examine its own Mideast policies enabled future terrorism — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 267 (+18 more)
Broader Connections
- US hostility to Islamism depended on whether it served US interests
#expands(0.90) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 233 - US imperial interests, not Islamist actions, determine Islamist ally or enemy status
#expands(0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 278 - The US held contradictory Islamist allies and enemies simultaneously
#expands(0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 214 - The same Islamist figures who denounced the US conspired with the CIA against nationalists
#exemplifies(0.75) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 370 - American Cold War strategy cultivated Islamists against secular nationalism
#exemplifies(0.70) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 219 - US facilitated Muslim violence when it served Cold War interests
#exemplifies(0.70) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 288 - US support for Islamists continued in the 1980s despite threats to Israel
#exemplifies(0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 264 - Sadat’s regime deliberately cultivated Islamist groups against secularist policies
#exemplifies(0.55) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 331 - US policy was always split between anti-Soviet and anti-Islamist interests
#expands(0.50) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 220 - The CIA funded Islamist clergy to overthrow Mossadegh in 1953
#exemplifies(0.50) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 244 - US administrations used symbolic inclusion of Islam to recruit Muslims into state interests.
#expands(0.40)