ABSTRACT
Conspiracy theories in the Middle East are espoused by leading politicians, religious figures, intellectuals, and journalists, and have a home at the heart of the political spectrum. Beyond specific examples, conspiracy theories spawn their own discourse, complete in itself and virtually immune to rational argument. Five assumptions distinguish the conspiracy theorist from conventional patterns of thought. It includes: appearances deceive, conspiracies drive history, nothing is haphazard, the enemy always gains, and always ask qui bono. Publics in the Middle East are genuinely as frightened as they seem to be. Leaders are a different story. While they clearly share some of the public's fears, they are also in a position to manipulate a gullible public for their own ends. The record shows a perplexing mixture of fear and manipulation; the same individual will alternately be sensible and then indulge in the paranoid style.
