By Chris Zambelis
The September 11, 2001 attacks inspired an unprecedented upsurge of interest in Middle East and Islamic studies within academic, policymaking and security circles in the United States. Now, more than ever, Americans are seeking to understand the circumstances that culminated in the worst terrorist attacks on American soil, especially the rise of radical Islam and political Islam as a whole. Despite this newfound curiosity, however, much of the commentary on Islamism is ill-informed by generalizations that fail to distinguish between moderate Islamists advocating political liberalization and democratization and their violent militant counterparts. Indeed, many observers continue to see political Islam through a Cold War lens: a monolithic movement akin to the Soviet Union that threatens the United States. Ironically, during the Cold War, the United States viewed Islamists of all stripes as allies against the spread of Soviet influence and Arab nationalism.
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The Jamestown FoundationH/T:
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