Author: Peter Oborne
Affiliation: NM
Organization/Publisher: Middle East Eye
Date/Place: April 28, 2020/ UK
Type of Literature: Policy analysis
Word Count: 1281
Link:https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/west-has-now-found-itself-new-enemy
Keywords: Clash of Civilization, Islam, China, the West.
Brief:
The author argues that as the Coronavirus pandemic is reshaping global geopolitics and the West needs an enemy, the latest target is China which is being presented as “the new existential enemy.” He identifies that picturing China as the new enemy is made by the very same newspaper columnists, the same political parties and think tanks, and intelligence agencies, who previously presented Islam as the enemy of the West. The author reminds us that Huntington was not only concerned about Islamic civilization. Rather, Huntington warns that “the fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future,” and for Huntington the second “challenger” is China, which is the long-term threat to the West as well as the most powerful civilization. Therefore, this will reduce much of the hostility against Muslims in the aftermath of the Coronavirus tragedy. Because of the sacrifices made by Muslims, for instance the first three medical staff to die in the UK from Coronavirus were all Muslim, the author concludes that Muslims might breathe a little bit freely after the West has found a new enemy.
By: Fadi Zatari, CIGA Senior Research Associate
