Muslims’ Westophobia: Split Foreign Policy Visions and Practices

There are at least two fundamental traditions of comprehending the ascriptions or attributions that Muslims people used to elucidate their classical, modern and contemporary encounters with the ‘West’: (a) as a historical “clash of civilizations,” or an inherent conflict between Muslim and Western cultural and civilizational values, and (b) as a “anti-dominance or anti-hegemony” reaction to perceived and real Western subjugation of and supremacy over Muslims in general and Middle Easterners and Arabs in particular. This paper presents a general perspective of Muslims’ Westophobia or Muslims’ fear of the ‘West’. Following a brief conceptual framework and definition, the paper then turns to a general account of the of the historical origins and evolution of such phenomenon and specifically anchors it to European and Muslim elites/scholars. A discussion of the root causes and manifestations of such Westophobia as well as the foreign policy visions and practices associated with it follow in a subsequent manner. The author concludes by recommending that if the ‘West’, including the United States, aspires to change its negative images and the relevant Muslims’ Westophobia, it should seriously reconsider its foreign policies towards the Muslim World and address the phobia-based reactions by such World to such images or stereotypes.