Us versus Them

In this important new book, Douglas Little explores the political and cultural turmoil that led U.S. policy makers to shift their attention from containing the Red Threat of international communism to combating the Green Threat of radical Islam after 1989. Little analyzes Americas confrontation with Islamic extremism through the traditional ideological framework of us versus them that has historically pitted the United States against Native Americans, Mexicans, Asian immigrants, Nazis, and the Soviets.The collapse of the Soviet Union seemed to signal that the doctrine of containment had served U.S. interests in the Middle East well, preserving Western access to Persian Gulf oil while protecting Israel and preventing communist subversion. Yet, although many Americans hoped that the end of the Cold War would enable the United States to redefine its diplomatic relationships in the Middle East and elsewhere, Little demonstrates that from Operation Desert Storm in 1991 to Americas battle against ISIS today, U.S. foreign policy has been governed by us versus them thinking, with Islamophobia supplanting the threats of yesteryear.