Conspiracy Theories in the United States and the Middle East

Abstract

Conspiracy theories still are an integral part of most, if not all, societies. Conspiracy theories are also frequently articulations of and distorted responses to existing needs and anxieties. Thus, they must not be dismissed out of hand and ridiculed. The past twenty years have seen a reevaluation of conspiracist visions, their origins, and their cultural, social, and political functions, with the vast majority of studies examining various aspects of conspiracy theorizing in the United States or drawing on American examples when examining conspiracy theory in general. Yet, there have not been many inter- or transdisciplinary efforts to study conspiracy theories so far. Focusing on the United States and the Middle East, two regions where conspiracy theories have been prominent for a long time, Conspiracy Theories in the United States and the Middle East constitutes a step toward closing some of the gaps thus left. Its perspective is both comparative and interdisciplinary, as it concentrates on two different regions of the world that are nevertheless connected in manifold ways, and as it brings together scholars from various fields and disciplines.