American Neo Orientalism And The Justification For The ...

Stephanie Pak AP Human Geography Mr. Shaw 22 February 2016 Ex Oriente Lux: American neo-Orientalism and the Justification for the ‘War on Terror’ The September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon fundamentally changed the dynamic of American identity threatening it’s hegemony and creating a space of insecurity thus necessitating a reassertion of state authority. In particular, the 9/11 post-traumatic space required US participation in an ambiguous ‘War on Terror’ that institutionalized racially charged violence through the demonization of the Islamic ‘Other’. The US-led project to ‘save’ its identity serves to permanently etch within the American subconscious a false representation of modern terrorism in order†¦show more content†¦The 9/11 attacks have become a symbolic event marked by the American military retaliation and changing East-West relationship, the result being the materialization of neo-Orientalist academia wherein the Arab world is the focus and many major prototype components such as India and Turkey are omitted from the neo-Orientali st map. In the aftermath of 9/11, Orientalist depictions of an Islamic ‘Other’ have been highly visible within the Western world in both official rhetoric and the American press effectively legitimizing normative binaries. Notably, the US ‘War on Terror’ discourses promote imaginary geographies by way of two critical axioms centering around the idea of ‘West’ in opposition of ‘East’: the righteous campaign and Islam in direct opposition to Christianity. As a form of critical analysis, Orientalism provides an essential context in that it helps to unravel the ways in which â€Å"Eastern peoples, traditions, and cultures are depicted as irrational, backward, lazy and despotic in direct contrast to the West, which is seen as rational, moral and the pinnacle of civilization.† Prior to the ‘War on Terror’, the US had envisaged an unequivocal role for itself and the 9/11 attacks simply adduced the self-perception of Am erica as â€Å"the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world.† The US conception of the world draws heavily on the binaries of good and evil, viewing 9/11 as justification for any