Neo-Colonialism and Islamophobia

ali gunes

gunesali1@gmail.com

Recently I attended an international conference titled “Fourth International Conference on Islamophobia: Examining The cultural and Geopolitical Dimension of Islamophobia in Muslim-Majority Countries” held at İstanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, İstanbul, Türkiye, on March 11-13, 2023. I also presented a paper at the conference, “Literature and Islamophobia: The Distortion of the Images of Islam and Muslims in John Updike’s Terrorist (2006), in which I argue how literature as an art form is used to spread and promote Islamophobic ideas and messages. Although the conference focused mainly on Islamophobia in Muslim-majority countries, there were also research papers, including mine, which also examined international dimensions of islamophobia – what it is, why it occurs and why it spreads and why is kept on the agenda, and how the politicians and other related groups use it. Of course, there were different views on these points. Yet, I noticed in all the arguments at the conference that Islamophobia has deeper meanings beyond its simple definition and belief. I accept that there may be a few extreme cases in every religion as I give examples below; I do accept that a few Muslims might also have made mistakes and may still have the disposition to do so, yet, Islamophobia – its over-generalisation, the constant negative meanings loaded into it, keeping it constantly on the agenda and using it intermittently when necessary- is associated with curious ideas that there must be something serious beneath. Having listened to many papers and exchanged opinions with scholars at the conference, I have concluded that Islamophobia is not just a ridiculous fear and hate of Islam and Muslims but an implicit means for former colonial powers to maintain their former colonial legacy, political dominance, economic exploitation, and cultural assimilation mainly in Muslim countries or the Muslim-majority countries. This is termed “neo-colonialism.” This article focuses on how Islamophobia is often used to defame Islam and suppress and control Muslims worldwide to rule and sustain the clandestine practice of neo-colonialism, which enables former colonial powers to implement their ambition and interest of control and exploitation as in the past.

The early decades of the 20th century saw the process of decolonisation, enabling the colonised nations gradually to achieve their independence one by one on account of the rise of nationalism, anti-colonial sentiments and movements, along with the demand for more democracy, freedom, and human rights. This process gained more and more speed, particularly after World War II. As Krishnan Srinivasan argues, however, “the transfer of sovereignty during the decolonisation process did not conclude the ambitions [of former colonising powers] for a continuing role in their former colonies” because the old powers have not been willing to leave out their legacy of what George Musselman calls “exploitation” and “subjugation” and what Madan Sarup calls “cultural project” in their former colonies. Luckily, there was no physical occupation or subjugation this time. Yet, the formerly colonised and newly so-called independent countries have been trapped by a new type of colonialism known as neo-colonialism. Indeed, neo-colonialism is the continuation of earlier colonialism or imperialism in diverse ways. What may be different is that the name colonialism or imperialism has been softened not to disturb people or not draw severe criticism in an age of democracy and liberalisation. Hence earlier colonisers have found new names to achieve their incomplete goal of “exploitation” and “subjugation’ such as democracy, human rights, freedom, and civilisation, as well as recently globalisation supported by international financial organisations, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB), World Trade Organization (WTO), Group of Eight and World Economic Form. By hiding insidiously behind these values, names and institutions, new colonisers or global imperial powers thus strive to realise their ambition of control and “exploitation” in numerous ways worldwide.

New colonialism, which refers to the current trend of neo-imperialism, is marked by the economic, cultural, and political domination of developed countries, mainly Western powers. This kind of colonialism aims to keep its former colonial legacy intact, so it has needed a logical excuse or an imaginary enemy to realise its ambition. New colonisers have invented Islamophobia, which is succinctly defined as the irrational fear and hatred of Islam, Muslims, and Muslim culture. Thus, Islamophobia has been a recurring issue in Western societies for several decades to occupy the agenda of politicians, intellectuals, writers, TV shows, social media, etc. and to convince the public opinion inside and outside societies.

Why are new colonisers creating, demonising, and using Islamophobia as a so-called weapon? The answer to this question is single but complicated. It is also so multifaceted and deeply rooted in historical, economic, and geopolitical factors that one may find themselves in a tricky situation. Let us brainstorm and try to give a few reasons. One reason the West keeps Islamophobia on the agenda may be the attempt to keep the legacy of colonialism and imperialism. Many Western countries colonised Muslim-majority countries and had a long history of imperialist domination over Muslim-majority regions. This domination has been characterised by exploiting resources, suppressing and assimilating local cultures and religions and imposing Western values and beliefs. Now Western countries desire to continue their former imperial exploitation, particularly their economic and geopolitical interests in the Muslim countries. For example, the Middle East is home to some of the world's largest oil reserves; the North African Muslim-majority countries have rich oil and natural gas reserves, and it is well known that developed nations have historically looked to exploit these resources and labour of developing countries to sustain their economic growth. The United States has overtly and covertly intervened militarily in the region, as seen in its occupations of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003 under the pretext of a “war on terror” to root away Islamic terrorism and so-called weapons of mass destruction. Hence Islamophobia is often used to justify these interventions with the promise of a world without terrorism but with peace, democracy, human rights, and civilisation. Also, in the aftermath of the Cold War, the neoliberal economic model has been embraced by many developing nations, resulting in the privatisation of public services and resources and the deregulation of industries. This has created opportunities for Western corporations to take advantage of these economic policies to extract resources and labour from these nations colonised before, resulting in the impoverishment of the people and the exploitation of their natural resources, such as petrol and natural gas. Thus, Islamophobia has been used to justify the economic exploitation of developing nations. Many of these nations are predominantly Muslim, and their religion and culture are often portrayed in the media and popular culture as incompatible with Western values. Unfortunately, this has led to the demonisation of Islam and Muslims, making it easier for Western countries to rationalise their economic exploitation of these nations.

Another reason Islamophobia is continuously propagated and kept on the agenda is to support the political climate of the post-9/11 era. In the post-9/11 period, Western governments, social media outlets and literature have often portrayed Muslims as violent, backward, and incompatible with Western civilisation, as Edward Said debated in his often-quoted book Orientalism (1978). The terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers of the World Centre in New York City on September 11, 2001, brought about the declaration of a global “war on terror” that has been characterised by targeting Muslims and demonising Islam in a way that Islam is always represented negatively, and this climate has been reinforced by political rhetoric, social media, and literature, which often portray Islam as a religion of terror and Muslims as terrorists or potential terrorists, threatening the security of western countries and undermining Western values and interests. Western new colonisers, particularly the USA, used the 9/11 attacks as a pretext not only to convince its international compradors and keep them on its side but also to justify military interventions in Muslim-majority countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan and legitimise domestic policies such as surveillance profiling and deportation of Muslims.

Besides, new colonialism also uses right-wing populist nationalist parties, movements, and media platforms, which have emerged in many Western countries, such as the USA, France, Sweden, Denmark, Britain, and so on, to demonise Islam and Muslims, by which neo-colonisers strive to carry out their imperial legacy and exploitation intact by diverting attention. These far-right activists often use Islamophobia to mobilise their supporters and promote their anti-immigrant, anti-multicultural and anti-Muslim agenda. For instance, in 2017, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that banned people travelling from six Muslim-majority countries from entering the USA and closed the door to refugees to protect Indigenous American society against would-be Muslim terrorists. Also, Rasmus Paludan, a fanatical Muslim-hater and far-right politician, burned the Muslim holy book Qur’an in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, under the police projection of the Swedish government with an excuse of “freedom of expression.” Those Muslims, who opposed and protested the Qur’an burning incident, are called fanatics and backwards because they were against “the freedom of expression” cherished by the West. In addition, the French government issued special laws in 2004 to target Muslims, in which religious symbols were banned, and Muslim girls were not allowed to attend schools with their headscarves.

Finally, new colonial powers also constantly keep Islamophobia on the agenda due to cultural factors, such as the perceived clash of civilisations between the West and the Islamic world. Politicians, intellectuals, and writers, such as Judith Miller, Bernard Lewis, and Samuel P. Huntington in the West, have promoted this clash of civilisations narratives to create an enemy in the post-cold War world after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. They seek an opposition or enemy to define themselves in the Saussurian sense. They argue that instead of the conflict between the Western block led by the USA and the socialist block headed by the Soviet Union, the disputes will be between the West and Islam in the post-Cold War world. In his article “The Clash of Civilisations”, published in 1993 in Foreign Affairs and later turned into a book form titled “The Clash of Civilisations: The Remaking World Order (1998), for instance, Samuel P. Huntington argues that the Islamic civilisation is unique in its cultural and religious identity and that this identity creates a sense of “us versus them” with the West. He also says Islam is inherently “expansionist” and that conflict between Islam and the West is unavoidable. In his article, Huntington recognises several factors contributing to the conflict between Islam and the West. He first makes the case that Islam and Christianity have a lengthy history of enmity that dates to the Crusades. Secondly, the Islamic world, he claims, views the West as a danger to its religious and cultural identity. There is a belief that the West is trying to undercut Islamic traditions and beliefs by spreading its ideas and values throughout the Islamic world. Finally, according to Huntington, the West's support for Israel is a third factor aggravating tensions with the Islamic world.

In conclusion, there may be a few extremists in every religion. On the Islamic side, for example, terror organisations, Al-Qaeda and ISIS (there are also mixed stories about how they were formed or who established them) carried out terrorist attacks and killed many innocent people. It cannot be accepted. On the Christian side, there are also related stories. For instance, a white Christina conducted a terrorist attack in Oklahoma City in 1995 and killed many innocent people; 28-year-old white Christian Australian gym trainer Brenton Tarrant stormed Christchurch in New Zealand on 15 March 2019 and murdered 51 Muslim men, women and children, and finally, and finally a white German citizen has recently carried out an armed attack in Hamburg, Germany, killing several innocent people. Yet, the authorities and media announced that the white shooters who conducted such raids as having psychological disturbances. On the other hand, if a Muslim performs such an attack (it cannot be accepted), he/she is at once labelled a terrorist. This is a clear double standard to make Muslims “the Other.” Like many other strategies, therefore, neo-colonial imperial powers have always promoted and manipulated Islamophobic ideas and incidents to degrade Islam and control Muslims worldwide; even these imperial powers have constantly supported specific media platforms and organisations politically and financially to produce, distribute and instil Islamophobic ideas into the minds of the people. The ultimate purpose of neo-colonial imperial powers is not to build up a just and peaceful world but to protect and sustain their economic exploitation and political dominance and impose their values on Muslim countries. Simply, their sole purpose is to remove any obstacle, as in the Carter Doctrine of 1980, preventing their interests from continuing. Thus, Islam and Muslims must be controlled in any way. In this respect, Islamophobia seems an excellent weapon.