From Intervention to Insurgency: How American Foreign Policy Facilitated Jihadist Mobilization in the Muslim World

Abstract

This article interrogates the intricate nexus between U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and the proliferation of jihadist mobilisations. Through situating jihadism within a broader context of historical contingencies, sociopolitical transformations and local grievances, the analysis foregrounds the decisive role American interventions and policy played in engendering conditions conducive to the articulation and diffusion of jihadi movements. Through historicising U.S. engagement in the region from the post–World War II era, initially characterised by economic expansionism and subsequently escalating into military securitisation and political involvement, the analysis underscores the far-reaching impacts of these policies. The discussion focuses on key historical turning points where U.S. interventions intersected with the spread of jihadist ideology. The article further identifies four major dynamics generated by these policies that have fuelled the rise of jihadist movements: the creation of power vacuums and weak governance structures; the intensification of sectarian divides and identity politics; widespread psychological and cultural humiliation; and the apparent dissonance embedded within U.S. policy narratives. By theorising these dynamics, this article contributes to debates on intervention and American empire and offers a reappraisal of American foreign policies that have inadvertently facilitated the very forms of ideologies and militancy they purported to suppress.