Us Hard Power in the Arab World: Resistance, the Syrian Uprising and the War on Terror by Layla Saleh

Author:Layla Saleh [Saleh, Layla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: International Relations, Middle Eastern, Social Science, Political Science, World, Regional Studies, General
ISBN: 9781315512990
Google: I_gwDQAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 32512125
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2016-10-04T00:00:00+00:00

Conclusion

This chapter has set the scene for the investigation occupying the rest of the book, namely the dialectic of US soft–hard–smart power in the Arab Spring and the responses, resistance, and engagement by the Syrian public. I have argued that the state of exception manifests itself in US War on Terror discourse in several interrelated ways. First, a reliance on soft power, exerted from development assistance to humanitarian aid to civil society promotion to ideological persuasion, is necessary for this “new” kind of war. Here the second point, of US “exceptionalism” singling out America’s uniqueness and its paradoxical imperative to universalize its peace dividend-securing influence and disseminate its politico-cultural “values,” is central to the US narrative, even if nominally tempered towards humility under President Obama. Third, by declaring an initiative to promote democracy in the Arab world, the US attempts to rewrite Arab “exceptionalism.” But the state of exception whereby democracy is supported, if not imposed through military occupation at the service of American security, sets them both up for failure. Fourth, American public diplomacy often reads as little more than misguided and confused propaganda to shore up support for American military might. Finally, American discourses and policies promoting “moderate” Islam and Muslims function as bald intrusions on Arab and Muslim culture, further discredited by being framed as invitations to the freedom-fighting international counter-terrorism “club”. The next chapter turns to American foreign policy discourse on the Arab Spring and Syria in particular, looking for the state of exception in an initially radically different but eventually unfortunately similar context.

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