Western banks and Chicago-school neoliberals financed the rise of Islamism

Evidence

The West wholeheartedly supported this banking system. Not wanting to be left out of the tidal wave of petrodollars now flowing through Islamic banks, Western banks pitched in to provide expertise, training, and technological know-how. The key American players included Citibank, Chase Manhattan, Price Waterhouse, and Goldman Sachs. The rise of the Islamic banking system coincided with the development of the neoliberal model in the West. The neoliberal guru Milton Friedman and his disciples at the University of Chicago forged close ties with the Islamists. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 241

Categorization

• XREF: This is a striking material-interest revelation directly serving the reader’s first guiding question — the financial infrastructure beneath what is usually framed as a purely religious/cultural movement. Echoes Grosfoguel’s insistence on grounding ideology in material power. — connects to: The 1967 defeat and 1970s economic crisis fueled political Islam’s rise. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 250; Capitalism and colonialism drove Muslim empires toward secularization — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 298; Islamism rose from secular nationalist failure, left weakness, and economic crises — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 323 (+9 more)
• SEED: The Friedman-Islamist axis is a surprising alliance worth an essay: how neoliberal free-market ideology and Islamism were mutually reinforcing in the 1970s.

Broader Connections

• Political Islam emerged from failures of secularism, Stalinism, and crises, aided by US sponsorship #expands (0.75) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 371
• IMF liberalization policies created the educated but economically marginalized youth who fueled Islamism #expands (0.70) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 340
• Political Islam is a modern urban phenomenon born of capitalist crisis, not medieval revival #corroborates (0.65) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 342
• Islamism rose from secular nationalist failure, left weakness, and economic crises #expands (0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 323
• Political Islam’s rise depended on the collapse of secular nationalism #expands (0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 312
• Political Islam’s rise stems from modern politics, not seventh-century Islam #expands (0.55) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 313
• US hostility to Islamism depended on whether it served US interests #expands (0.50) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 233
• Capitalism and colonialism drove Muslim empires toward secularization #qualifies (0.40) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 298
• Elites mobilized Islamophobia to advance their political agendas across centuries #complicates (0.30) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 98