A world Without Islam pdfdrive com

From Imperial Enterprise to Decolonization
For Muslims today, there are few issues more burning than freedom from
intrusive and neo-imperial policies of the West. In the US, the term “neo-
imperialism” has a sort of Marxist ring to it, causing it to be dismissed out of
hand by many as ideological jargon. Others may be particularly offended by the
term “American imperialism,” although there are a wealth of books and studies
on the phenomenon produced in the United States over the past few decades.
The terms were, of course, heavily used in Marxist, Communist, and Third
World rhetoric during the Cold War. Communist embrace of the term
nonetheless does not invalidate it: the West for at least four centuries did indeed
exercise dominant imperial power over the rest of the world with great profit and
relative impunity. The United States today is, by its own reckoning, the
overwhelmingly dominant power of the globe in nearly all spheres, with the
determination to impose its will by one means or another. That phenomenon is
called by many “hegemony,” or imperial power. Some neoconservative thinkers
even openly embrace the concept of American Empire. But whatever the name,
it’s the phenomenon that matters.
The term “imperialism” cannot be far off the mark: even after the end of the
formal age of Western imperialism, new forms of imperialism were introduced
in the modern era, especially in the Middle East, starting with the pliant rulers
selected by the British to dominate the newly “independent” governments of
most states; these rulers were expected to be responsive to Western needs and
preferences, even in the absence of support from their own people. Revolutions
in Iran, Iraq, Egypt, and Syria, among others, ensued when the tensions between
pro-Western rulers and their publics reached the breaking point and military
coups against them occurred—in Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Jordan, Syria,
Iraq, and Yemen. Since then, a majority of leaders in the Arab world and
elsewhere are supported in power by the West, are not elected, and pursue pro-
Western policies unpopular with the local population.
Neo-imperialism remains strong in the Muslim world for two reasons:
because so much of the Muslim world possesses huge geostrategic importance
due to energy sources and transportation routes, and precisely because it remains
the last area where weak and pliable authoritarianism is the rule. Even though
direct forms of foreign rule have long since faded, modern mechanisms include
large US economic subsidies—particularly in the case of Egypt—use of loan
mechanisms controlled by the United States from the World Bank, military sales,
diplomatic support, the presence of military bases, regular political intervention,

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manipulation of regional policies as pressure points, military threats, and near
silence on violations of civil liberties and human rights in these states.
All of these policies are ultimately counterproductive in that they stir anger
within the countries in question, weaken the prestige of their rulers, and
stimulate local radicalism and violence. This kind of long-term political and
economic interventionism has taken on rawer form in the Middle East than in
almost any other part of the world; since the beginning of the Global War on
Terror, it has extended and deepened its roots, causing emotions to boil over and
making extrication difficult.

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