September 24, 2012

Why Do Americans Believe in Muslim Rage?

Steve Coll, New Yorker

AP Photo

In an essay published in 1990, the historian Bernard Lewis describes a surge of hatredrising from the Islamic world that becomes a rejection of Western civilization as such. The thesis became influential. It posited a crisis within a global Islamic community that made conflict with the United States and Europe inevitable. Academics and policymakers expanded on these ideas after September 11th, which brought urgently to the fore questions about how Al Qaeda’s radical ideas should be understood in relation to wider, diverse Muslim thought. (Lewis wrote an essay on the subject for this magazine in the autumn of 2001.) George W. Bush adopted some of the discourse in crafting his Global War on Terrorism. “They hate our freedoms,” the President said

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TAGGED: Clash of Civilizations, Islam

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