Economy
One of the main contributing factors of the Anti-Americanism in the Middle East is the state of their economy. While it may not be the sole cause, it definitely has added to the feelings of anger and betrayal held by many of the people in these countries. Key factors such as resources, geography, poverty and wealth distribution, relationships to other countries, and the implications of Sharia law all combine to create a recipe for resentment.
In comparison with the rest of the world, the United States ranks number five in regards to economic freedom, and is clearly one of the world’s most dominant powers with an economic freedom ranking of 80.6%. While not all Middle Eastern countries are under economic restraint, most have a long ways to go before they reach the level of economic freedom that most Americans enjoy.
In fact, it seems that in many ways their economy is getting worse.
“In an almost unthinkable reversal of a global pattern, almost every Arab country today is less free than it was 30 years ago. There are few countries in the world of which one can say that.” - Fareed Zakaria
http://www.fareedzakaria.com/ARTICLES/newsweek/101501_why.html
In the 1970s the rise of oil gave many Arabs hope for economic success, yet the rise in oil prices over the last 30 years hasn’t accomplished much except producing a rich class of Western Gulf Arabs who live in their own personal world of luxury.
Because of the geography of the Middle East, certain countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have control over the region’s oil resources and therefore enjoy much more economic freedom than other countries. Along with that freedom comes the choice of how to allocate those resources, and most Muslims are not very enthusiastic about the decisions being made.
“Muslims today believe that the wealthy oil countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are not using their wealth in accordance with the teachings of Islam. This borderless community feels betrayed by those who presume to be Islamic leaders yet who constitute—in Muslim eyes—an exclusive ruling elite which hoards all wealth and power unto itself. This sense of betrayal has in recent years been focused on the West, the United States in particular, by portraying it as dictating internal policy to Muslim countries.”
- Laurence A. Dobrot
http://www.terrorisminfo.mipt.org/pdf/6557-global-war-on-terrorism-religious-war.pdf
This same issue is the starting point for Anti-American sentiment towards the West. They believe that America only helped the rich countries to become richer with our involvement in the Gulf War, and that the only reason we bother involving ourselves in the Middle Eastern affairs at all is because of what we stand to gain from them. They look at American policy as cynically geared towards America’s oil interests, willing to support any type of tyrant or unfair ruler without a second thought.
“Most Americans think that Arabs should be grateful for our role in the gulf war, for we saved Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Most Arabs think that we saved the Kuwaiti and Saudi royal families. Big difference.”
- Fareed Zakaria
The wealth distribution is so unevenly skewed, that on the scale of economic freedom there is a wide range from countries like Kuwait which is 68.3% free to countries like Iraq which is less than 3% free. Much of that difference is due to the geography of these countries and the resources available at different locations, or lack thereof. This uneven distribution and short supply of oil, as well as other resources such as water, result in both external and internal conflict.
Within the global Muslim society there is also a feeling that they are being targeted and oppressed in an effort to keep them from returning to a rebirth of the caliphate. They have been unable to form a united pan-Islamic government that is ruled under the Islamic holy law of Sharia, and because of this they seem to believe that the United States in particular is trying to control and oppress their resources and people.
Page created by Raquel Shumway
"One Good Reason ." Cartoon. Russmo. 2002. 9 Dec. 2008 <http://russmo.com/04_19_02.html>.
