Abstract
This paper will analyze the role that U.S. Foreign Policy has had on increasing religious inspired terrorism since 1945. Justifications for the War on Terror after 9/11 were for freedom, democracy, and the eradication of terrorism, yet the interventions that have taken place both in the 20th and 21st centuries have neither spread democracy nor freedom and have even increased terrorism, especially in the Middle East and also internationally. The role that each presidential administration after World War II has played in increasing U.S. power and influence in the Middle East has further increased security threats both towards those in the region and Western states. The significant shift in policy after the attacks of 11 September 2001 allowed for the securitization of religious terrorism and a state of exception in which the United States has broken international law and violated human rights through extraordinary measures. The use of drones, in particular by the Obama administration has allowed the War on Terror to move into the shadows from the overt military interventions of George W. Bush in Afghanistan and Iraq, whilst still having a devastating effect on civilians and the stability of the states it targets. The human rights abuses of the United States both in the Middle East and in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base question the legitimacy of the invasions and aims of the democratic state by breaking the rule of law and have also contributed to the increase in religious inspired terrorism.
Highlights
The events of 11 September 2001 were an unprecedented attack on Western soil which took the lives of 2,997 civilians in the United States (Burke, 2012)
From the end of World War II, the United States conducted military interventions in the Middle East throughout their ascendancy to the region. This show of force allowed them to be established as a hegemon and provide support to extremist Islamic groups, in order to secure vital interests, such as those designed to remove the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
The U.S support for the establishment of the state of Israel led to increased conflict and religious terrorism in the state of Palestine
Summary
The events of 11 September 2001 were an unprecedented attack on Western soil which took the lives of 2,997 civilians in the United States (Burke, 2012). During the Reagan administration, the United States promoted unilateralism in terms of increased military capabilities (Dougherty and Pfaltzgraff, 1986) This supported the trend of increasing power in the Middle East and the use of military intervention when it protects its interests as well as the aid to Israel, including weapons. The Clinton administration did not take any decisive military action in the Middle East throughout his two terms in office and allowed human rights abuses to continue against minority groups and citizens of the region His policy on Israel can be said to have contributed to a rise in religious inspired terrorism against Israel and allowed radical Islamist ideologies to expand with increased anti-Western sentiments up until the beginning of the 21st century
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