Manar Shorbagy on Edward Schatz

This essay is a response to Edward Schatz’s contribution in this book, Global Perspectives on the United States. It acknowledges ways that Schatz contributes to our understanding of anti-Americanism, especially in relationship to Islamist activism, but it also seeks to put the relationship between anti-Americanism and Islamist activism in a broader context. It argues that the goal of combatting all different forms of “Islamic activism” in places like the Middle East is at once counter-productive and futile, in that it stimulates both anti-Americanism and Islamic activism. It suggests that a better goal for the U.S. would be to respect the phenomenon and learn how to differentiate between violent and nonviolent elements in the broader transnational Islamic movement. U.S. policy since September 11, 2001, has, it argues, largely failed because it has focused on initiatives showcasing American “values” when “American values” themselves are not under attack, but specific U.S. policies do generate deep resentment in the region.