Amir Mohammad Haji-Yousefi; Maryam Joneidi
Abstract
This paper argues that there is a strong conceptual connection between the international crises such as what happened in September 11, 2001 in the United States and the process of identity construction not only in the Western countries` foreign policy in general and the U.S. foreign policy in particular ...
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This paper argues that there is a strong conceptual connection between the international crises such as what happened in September 11, 2001 in the United States and the process of identity construction not only in the Western countries` foreign policy in general and the U.S. foreign policy in particular but also in the emergence and expansion of the the terrorist groups such as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Ourmain question is how the anti-terorism discourse emerged after the 9/11 facilitated the emergence and expansion of ISIS? Our main hypotheis is that the anti-terorism discourse created an image of Muslims as terrorists which in turn led to the radicalization of Muslims and identification of themselves as anti-systemic forces. This new identity was created as a result of the overarching anti-terorist discourse after 2001. To answer our question, we survey the Foreign Policy Magazine from 2001 to 2004 and through content analysis of articles and interviews published in this period, try to demonstrate how the anti-terorism discourse led to Muslims identifying themselves as forces against the international system dominated by the Western countries.
