ABSTRACT
Others interpret anti-Americanism in the Arab-Muslim world as a case of cynical manipulation of popular opinion by political and civic leaders in order to deflect attention from the internal inadequacies of Muslim societies. As Barry Rubin puts it: ‘The United States is blamed for much that is bad in the Arab world, and is used as an excuse for political and social oppression and economic stagnation. By assigning responsibility for their own shortcomings to Washington, Arab leaders distract their subjects’ attention from the internal weaknesses that are their real problems’.8 The conclusions of Salman Rushdie are remarkably similar. Anti-Americanism ‘has become too useful a smokescreen for Muslim nations’ many defects – their corruption, their incompetence, the oppression of their own citizens, their economic, scientific and cultural stagnation’. To the Muslim world, ‘America-hating has become a badge of identity … [i]t contains a strong streak of hypocrisy, hating most what it desires most’.9
