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Elite Competition, Religiosity, and Anti-Americanism in the Islamic World

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2012

LISA BLAYDES  and
DREW A. LINZER
LISA BLAYDES*
Affiliation:
Stanford University
DREW A. LINZER*
Affiliation:
Emory University
*
Lisa Blaydes is Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Stanford University, Encina Hall West, Suite 100, Stanford, CA 94305 (blaydes@stanford.edu).
Drew A. Linzer is Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Emory University, 102 Tarbutton Hall, 1555 Dickey Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322 (dlinzer@emory.edu).
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Abstract

The battle for public opinion in the Islamic world is an ongoing priority for U.S. diplomacy. The current debate over why many Muslims hold anti-American views revolves around whether they dislike fundamental aspects of American culture and government, or what Americans do in international affairs. We argue, instead, that Muslim anti-Americanism is predominantly a domestic, elite-led phenomenon that intensifies when there is greater competition between Islamist and secular-nationalist political factions within a country. Although more observant Muslims tend to be more anti-American, paradoxically the most anti-American countries are those in which Muslim populations are less religious overall, and thus more divided on the religious–secular issue dimension. We provide case study evidence consistent with this explanation, as well as a multilevel statistical analysis of public opinion data from nearly 13,000 Muslim respondents in 21 countries.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 106 , Issue 2 , May 2012 , pp. 225 - 243
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2012

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