Feeling Betrayed: The Roots of Muslim Anger at America

287 Pages·2011·1.79 MB·English

by  Steven Kull

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Feeling Betrayed
THE ROOTS
OF MUSLIM ANGER
AT AMERICA
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B
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Cover photo ©REUTERS/Jerry Lampen
Jacket Design by Peggy Archambault
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FEELING
BETRAYED
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FEELING
BETRAYED
The Roots of Muslim Anger
at America
Steven Kull
brookings institution press
Washington, D.C.
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ABOUT BROOKINGS
The Brookings Institution is a private nonprofit organization devoted to research,
education, and publication on important issues of domestic and foreign policy. Its
principal purpose is to bring the highest quality independent research and analysis to
bear on current and emerging policy problems. Interpretations or conclusions in
Brookings publications should be understood to be solely those of the authors.
Copyright © 2011
THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION
1775 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036
www.brookings.edu
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means without permission in writing from the Brookings
Institution Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data
Kull, Steven.
Feeling betrayed : the roots of Muslim anger at America / Steven Kull.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary: “Explores the depth of anti-Americanism felt by Muslim populations in
the Middle East and South Asia by reporting on opinions expressed during focus
group sessions and in-depth surveys over several years, complemented by data from
Gallup polls, World Values Survey, and Arab Barometer”—Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-0-8157-0559-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. United States—Relations—Islamic countries. 2. Islamic countries—
Relations—United States. 3. Anti-Americanism—Islamic countries. I. Title.
JZ1480.A57I74 2011
303.48’27301767—dc22 2010053915
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed on acid-free paper
Typeset in Sabon and Strayhorn
Composition by R. Lynn Rivenbark
Macon, Georgia
Printed by R. R. Donnelley
Harrisonburg, Virginia
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Contents
Preface vii
Introduction: America, Radical Islamist Groups,
and the Muslim People 1
1 The Scope of Muslim Anger and Support
for Violent Anti-American Groups 8
2 The Narrative of Oppression and Betrayal
and the Inner Clash of Civilizations 24
3 The United States as Coercively Dominating
the Muslim World 42
4 The United States as Hostile to Islam 72
5 U.S. Support for Israel 89
6 The United States as Undermining Democracy 102
7 Views of Al Qaeda and Other Radical Islamists 114
8 What Do Muslims Want? 146
9 What the United States Can Do 194
Notes 239
Index 247
v
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Preface
O
n September 11, 2001, I was in Washington just over the river from
the Pentagon when it was attacked and several blocks from the
White House—the apparent target of the fourth hijacked jetliner. Like
most Americans I was struck by the intensity of feeling that would lead
nineteen young men to immolate themselves in the effort to kill several
thousand civilians going about their daily business, civilians that could
have easily included me.
This led me to ask what was occurring in the larger Muslim society
that could have bred this extreme hostility. Surely the feelings that were
expressed that day were not developed sui generis, in complete isolation
from the culture in which these young men were born. Indeed, when the
9/11 attacks were reported in some cities in the Muslim world, many peo-
ple openly expressed celebratory feelings.
To understand such feelings, being a psychologist as well as an inter-
national survey researcher, I felt a need to go to the Muslim world to sit
down with Muslims and let them speak. It took little prompting before
they poured out their feelings, often aimed at me as the most available tar-
get and symbol of America.
These feelings turned out to be complex and layered. At the most
immediate level was a narrative based on the image of America as a force
that seeks to coercively dominate the Muslim world, exploit its resources,
vii
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viii Preface
and undermine its religion. With time, though, a more subtle level of feel-
ings emerged in which people showed a strong sense of rapport with
America and the values it represents. This was coupled with a deep sense
that America has betrayed the Muslim people by proffering these values
as a basis for amicable and trusting relations and then failing to live up to
them. It was, however, at this level of discussion that the Muslims I spoke
with revealed some implicit hope that relations between America and the
Muslim world could be redeemed. Out of these direct conversations in
focus groups I began to develop survey questions to determine how wide-
spread these various feelings were.
Developing these surveys was a joint venture with many other individu-
als who made major contributions in writing questions and analyzing the
results. Particularly helpful were other staff members at the Program on
International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) where we spent many hours carefully
crafting questions. Most notable was Clay Ramsay, research director and
cofounder of PIPA. In addition to making invaluable contributions to the
questionnaire development, Stephen Weber managed the complex process
of conducting the surveys in numerous countries. Evan Lewis managed the
statistical data. Ebrahim Mohseni worked diligently to ensure that I under-
stood the deepest nuances of the Muslim perspective. Melanie Ciolek coor-
dinated the survey partners and together with Abe Medoff carried out
numerous critical functions in the process of gathering and organizing the
data and performing other research assistance.
A key adviser was Shibley Telhami, who cotaught seminars with me on
Muslim public opinion and made many valuable contributions to the
drafts of the book. Others who gave useful advice were Abdel Latif, Fares
Braizat, Mathew Warshaw, Nabil Kukali, Zsolt Nyiri, Flynt Leverett, and
Marina Ottaway.
The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to
Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland was a major source of
support for the first two sets of surveys conducted in four countries and
for some of the writing of the text. Scholars at START made key contri-
butions to developing the questionnaires, especially Clark McCauley, Arie
Kruglanski, Mansoor Moaddel, and Gary LaFree. Others at START who
played important roles in bringing these surveys to realization were Gary
Ackerman, Kathy Smarick, Victor Asal, and Laura Dugan.
The surveys for START, subsequent surveys, and the recruitment of
focus group participants were conducted by survey centers that were part
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Preface ix
of the WorldPublicOpinion.org network. These included A.C. Nielsen
Pakistan and SEDCO in Pakistan, Attitude Market Research and the
Emac Research and Training Center in Egypt, Deka Marketing Research
and Synovate in Indonesia, the Center for Strategic Studies at the Univer-
sity of Jordan, Leger Marketing in Morocco, the Palestinian Center for
Public Opinion in the Palestinian Territories, the ARI Foundation/Infakto
Research Workshop in Turkey, D3 Systems/Afghan Center for Social and
Opinion Research in Afghanistan, the International Center for Social
Research in Azerbaijan, Org-Quest Research Limited in Bangladesh, and
the Asharq Research Center and D3 Systems/KA Research in Iraq. In
many cases the researchers at these centers made important contributions
to the development and refinement of the questionnaires and provided
insights into the findings as well.
The first surveys for START were supported by the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security through the National Consortium for the Study of
Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), grant number
N00140510629. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommen-
dations in this document, however, are those of the author and do not
necessarily reflect views of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Support for surveys in additional countries, for further surveys in
countries included in the first START surveys, and for the analysis and
writing of this book was provided by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the
Carnegie Corporation, and the Calvert Foundation.
The United States Institute of Peace supported some of the polling in
Iran and Pakistan. Christine Fair and Paul Stares, then at the institute,
made valuable contributions to questionnaire development and analysis.
Some of the polling in Iran was also conducted in conjunction with
Search for Common Ground. William Miller, John Marks, and Sonya
Reines contributed to the development of the questionnaires and the
analysis.
My partner, Nancy Lindborg, deserves special credit. She tolerated and
was an important sounding board for endless noodling about what it all
meant.
Finally, I wish to express my appreciation to the people who really
made this book possible—the participants in the focus groups in majority-
Muslim countries who sincerely tried to communicate their feelings to a
stranger from America, trusting that I would present their words fairly
and with respect. I hope they feel the trust was warranted.