Blood Sacrifice and the Myth of the Fallen Muslim Soldier in US Presidential Elections after 9/11

Author(s):  
Edward E. Curtis

One ultimate sign of political assimilation is the willingness of citizens to sacrifice themselves in battle for their nation. This chapter reveals the promise and limits of US liberalism by examining how the blood sacrifice of two fallen soldiers—Kareem Khan and Humayun Khan—was imagined in mythic terms during the US presidential elections of 2008 and 2016. The chapter argues that in focusing on the incorporation of foreign Muslim blood into the nation, American politicians offered a partial, ambiguous acceptance—one that both included and excluded Muslims from the American body politic. It explains how the racialization of Muslim Americans render even sacred acts of assimilation ineffective in the struggle for political assimilation.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nausheen Pasha-Zaidi ◽  
Meg Aum Warren ◽  
Yvonne Pilar El Ashmawi ◽  
Neneh Kowai-Bell

Increased social justice awareness in the United States and shifting demographics are giving birth to a more diverse and egalitarian generation. Improving relations across social categories has been a key topic in di-versity, equity, and inclusion work, but less emphasis has been placed on cross-racial allyship within mi-nority populations. While allyship in racial contexts is often perceived as a White versus non-White issue, this binary position erases the diversity that exists within communities of color. A dichotomous approach to allyship that positions White heterosexual males as the primary holders of privilege does not address the disparities that exist within and across minoritized communities. While Arabs and South Asians are minori-ties in the US on a macrolevel, they often hold privileged positions in Islamic centers and other Muslim spaces—even though Black Americans make up a larger percentage of the Muslim population. Additional-ly, there is an increasing number of Latino/a Muslims in the US, but they are often invisible in larger con-versations about Islam in America as well as in discourse among Muslim Americans. In this chapter, we explore the concept of allyship and how South Asian and Arab Muslims can support and advocate for Black and Latino/a Muslims in American Islamic centers. We also discuss Islamophobia in the US as well as the anti-Blackness and racism that exists within Muslim communities and provide suggestions on how Islamic centers can serve as spaces of allyship and cross-racial dialogue.


2021 ◽  
Vol VI (III) ◽  
pp. 59-71
Author(s):  
Muhammad Nadeem Mirza ◽  
Lubna Abid Ali ◽  
Irfan Hasnain Qaisrani

This study intends to explore the rise of Donald Trump to the White House. Why was Donald Trump considered a populist leader, and how did his populist rhetoric and actions impact the contours of American domestic and foreign policies? The study adopted qualitative exploratory and explanatory research techniques. Specific methods utilised to conduct the study remained political personality profiling. It finds that the populist leaders construct the binaries in the society by dividing the nation into two groups: �us� the people, against �them� the corrupt elite or other groups presented as a threat to the lives and livelihood of the nation. Though populism as a unique brand of politics remained active through most of the US history, yet these were only two occasions that populists were successful in winning the American presidential elections � Andrew Jackson in 1828 and Donald Trump in 2016. Structural and historical reasons became the biggest cause behind the election of Donald Trump, who successfully brought a revolution in American domestic and foreign policies. And if structural issues in the United States are not addressed, there is a clear chance that Trump � who is not withering away � will come back to contest and challenge any competitors in the 2024 presidential elections.


2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrice Barthélémy ◽  
Mathieu Martin ◽  
Ashley Piggins

ABSTRACTDonald J. Trump won the 2016 US presidential election with fewer popular votes than Hillary R. Clinton. This is the fourth time this has happened, the others being 1876, 1888, and 2000. In earlier work, we analyzed these elections (and others) and showed how the electoral winner can often depend on the size of the US House of Representatives. This work was inspired by Neubauer and Zeitlin (2003, 721–5) in their paper, “Outcomes of Presidential Elections and the House Size.” A sufficiently larger House would have given electoral victories to the popular vote winner in both 1876 and 2000. An exception is the election of 1888. We show that Trump’s victory in 2016 is like Harrison’s in 1888 and unlike Hayes’s in 1876 and Bush’s in 2000. This article updates our previous work to include the 2016 election. It also draws attention to some of the anomalous behavior that can arise under the Electoral College.


Author(s):  
Charles O. Jones

The Founding Fathers were dedicated to the project of creating an American government both functional and incapable of devolving into tyranny. To do this, they intentionally decentralized decision making among the legislative, executive, and judiciary branches. The American Presidency: A Very Short Introduction delves into the constitutional roots of the American presidency to show how presidents face the challenges of governing within a system of separation of powers. It reviews crucial themes, including democratization of presidential elections, transitioning into and organizing a presidency, challenges in leading the permanent government, making law and executing policy, and reforming and changing the institution, before considering future prospects for the US presidency.


Slavic Review ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 76 (S1) ◽  
pp. S57-S65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Oates

The Russian and American media spheres converged to an unprecedented degree during the 2016 US presidential elections when reports of a possible dossier on Donald Trump emerged. This article considers the degree to which the media tactic of kompromat, which is the Russian abbreviation for “compromising material,” can infiltrate the US media ecology.


Author(s):  
Edward E. Curtis IV

The future of US democracy depends on the question of whether Muslim Americans can become full social and political citizens. Though many Muslims have worked toward full assimilation since the 1950s, it has mattered little whether they have expressed dissent or supported the political status quo. Their efforts to assimilate have been futile because the liberal terms under which they have negotiated their citizenship have simultaneously alienated Muslims from the body politic. Focusing on both electoral and grassroots Muslim political participation, this book reveals Muslim challenges to and accommodation of liberalism from the Cold War to the war on terror. It shows how the Nation of Islam both resisted and made use of postwar liberalism, and then how Malcolm X sought a political alternative in his Islamic ethics of liberation. The book charts the changing Muslim American politics of the late twentieth century, examining how Muslim Americans fashioned their political participation in response to a form of US nationalism tied to war-making against Muslims abroad. The book analyzes the everyday resistance of Muslim American women to an American identity politics that put their bodies at the center of US public life and it assesses the attempts of Muslim Americans to find acceptance through military service. It concludes with an examination of the role of Muslim American dissent in the contemporary politics of the United States.


Subject US relations with North and South Korea under the incoming Trump administration. Significance The period of transition to Donald Trump's presidency in the United States has displayed neglect and misunderstanding of Korean peninsula affairs, adding to risks for the region as it approaches a period of significant strategic challenge. Impacts Until Trump's team enunciates policy on the Koreas, responses to events will be unprepared and reactive. Trump's policy will influence presidential elections in South Korea, where left-of-centre candidates question the value of the US alliance. The Trump administration’s policy and communication via Twitter heightens risk of misunderstanding within the region.


Significance Some initiatives have been introduced to help counter the economic and social impacts of the pandemic, but the government’s actions appear to be driven less by the need to address the health crisis than by a desire to shore up political support ahead of elections next year. Impacts Opposition parties are beginning to forge electoral alliances in the hope of benefitting from popular frustration with the government. Trade and investment into Nicaragua will remain minimal, with external firms wary about the potential prevalence of COVID-19. The outcome of the US presidential elections in November will affect the potential for US aid and investment.


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