Politics
American Election and Its Reflection on the Islamic World
An alarm bell should be sounded in the entire Islamic world that there is no significant difference between the two presidential hopefuls and that every American regime is synonymous with the Zionist regime, even if Biden seems a better evil.
Semiu Babatunde ILORI
The United States presidential election slated to be held on November 5, 2024, will resonate through the global village's economy, climate, social, and geopolitical landscape. It will be the 60th quadrennial presidential election, where millions of American voters will elect the president and vice president for a period of four years to oversee the affairs of one of the most developed economies in the world.
It is not superfluous to say that American citizen number one seat is the most coveted seat in the entire globe, with a substantial number of people vying to occupy the seat. However, it is hopeful that the incumbent president, Joe Biden, a member of the Democratic Party running for re-election for another four years, will be contesting against his immediate predecessor, Donald Trump, a member of the Republican party, who is running for re-election for a second non-consecutive term, after losing to the incumbent in the previous cycle election. Nonetheless, the political ideology of the emerging party, coupled with the personal interest and aspirations of its candidate, would play a pivotal role in shaping the U.S. policy direction on the Middle East and, by and large, the Islamic world. Therefore, it is very pertinent to examine the effects of U.S. policy on the world and, most especially, the Islamic world through the forthcoming 2024 American Presidential elections.
U.S. Foreign Policy
After the end of the Second World War, the United States envisioned establishing a global system founded on its core values - democracy, freedom, multilateralism and cooperation. It maintains through the Department of State, diplomatic relations with more than 180 countries out of over 190 countries of the world. Consequentially, the paradigm later shifted, with the U.S. focusing mainly on shaping the international system to align with its own interests.
As part of its strategy to maintain a hegemonic role and leadership, under the pretence of maintaining regional stability, fighting terrorism, and preventing international crimes and criminal justice institutions, the United States, through cohesion, diplomacy and exert of influence, now directly and indirectly involved in both internal and external affairs of various countries of the world. Thus, the U.S., through its foreign policy, intends to gain more allies to strengthen and maintain its supervisory roles. This could be fathomed if the causes and effects of the Ukraine-Russia upheaval are properly diagnosed.
B. On the Islamic World
Even though U.S. policy on the Middle East (by and large Islamic countries) intends to seek political affiliations, it also aims at working with Israel, Egypt, other Middle Eastern countries, and the Palestinians to seek a way for them to live harmoniously together. However, with the present scenario, the Middle East has now been turned to the theatre of war for marketing and testing the potency of various arms and ammunition that the U.S. produces. Worthy of note is the precarious situation of the Palestinians and the crucial role the U.S. plays in establishing a strong footing for Israel over the Palestinians, as exemplified in the exacerbated conflicts between the two nations spanning a century.
Antecedents of the Two Presidential Hopefuls in the Islamic World
In order to properly evaluate the reflection of the upcoming U.S. presidential election on the Islamic world, one has to significantly review the antecedents of the two presidential hopefuls in the Islamic world since both are not new in the corridors of power.
From the onset of the 2016 presidential elections, which produced former president Donald Trump, it was very conspicuous that Islamophobia is the bane of his political ideology. His campaign clearly showed that Islamophobia is truly alive, ever potent and politically resonant as ever. Donald Trump did not only vilify Islam and Muslims in his campaign but also demonstrated scapegoating Islam as a winning card for achieving his political ambitions. The popular quote: "Trump will bring an administration that is entirely devoid of Muslim Americans and, at minimum, individuals without genuine reach into or backing from Muslim Americans. His campaign lacked any bonafide Muslim American involvement, and the Trump administration will likely reflect that" was spread and widely circulated in various Western media outlets.
Expectedly, the later emergence of the Trump administration ushered in a new dimension in U.S. policy in the Islamic world. The administration badly hurt and even severed the lines of communication and diplomatic contacts with the Palestinians. One of the Islamist groups who was most hurt by this administration and its policy toward the Israel-Palestinian conflicts was the Palestinian Hamas. The group viewed the Trump administration's actions toward Israel and Palestine, such as recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital, moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and a host of others as fundamental threats to the Palestinian agitation.
Incidentally, these and some internal flops of President Donald Trump led to the loss of re-election and ushered in President Biden's administration in 2020.
Early enough, many Islamist groups, including Tunisia's Ennahda, indirectly allied with Biden's campaign and offered their unequivocal support to Biden's administration. In the words of Ennahda’s leader, Rached Ghannouchi, "The success of the Democrat is a positive message for democracy in the world."
Consequently, Biden's administration started on a strong footing with his July 13 to 16, 2017, visitations to Israel, Palestine, and Saudi Arabia and his meetings with various notable regional leaders in the Middle East. The trip occurred at the brink of two major significant issues. The first was the shift away of American public opinion from its traditional pro-Israel bias toward increased fairness in looking at Palestinian rights and agitation, while the second was the growing antagonist public opinion in the U.S. over giving Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman a pass on his rights abuses, his execution of the devastating war in Yemen and his responsibility for the brutal killing and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Disappointedly, the trip to Palestine failed to produce any sparkling effects on correcting the hazardous relationship between Israel and Palestine. Biden's administration later dropped its political chameleon and showed the Islamic world where his undiluted allegiance belongs. Toeing the path of his predecessors, Biden's administration displayed a blatant disregard for the yearnings and concerns of the Palestinians with his daunting support to the Zionist administration in Israel despite its grievous atrocities being committed in the Gaza Strip. However though, not much should be expected of a Zionist-controlled administration had Muslims taken heed of the scholarly advice of Al-Imam As-Shaafi'i. Where he sincerely advised, "And do not expect kindness from a miser, the thirsty one does not find any water in the burning flame."
Reflection of the Election on the Islamic World
With the United States’ direct and indirect involvement in major crises in the international arena, various groups have hypothesised that even though foreign policy usually takes a backseat since the economy is the primary issue of concern to the US voters, the two presidential hopefuls may discover that their plans for U.S. engagement abroad could ultimately move the needle. War in Gaza, stance in Russian-Ukrainian upheaval, fear of over-rising tensions with China and, of course, the immigration policy could be of paramount interest to voters. To epitomise the reflection of the 2024 American presidential elections on the Islamic world, a critical appraisal of the situation in different Islamic settings will be examined.
Taking it from the local soil, since the beginning of the electioneering process, there have been noticeable lots of activities in Muslims dominated communities in the United States. Reuters (Washington, October 24) reported that "Arab Muslim Americans and their allies are criticising President Joe Biden's response to the Israel-Hamas war asking him to do more to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Gaza or risk losing their support in the 2024 election."
Taking the situation in Michigan as a case study, Michigan, with 10 million inhabitants, has 300,000 voters of Maghreb or Middle Eastern origin and another 200,000 Muslims from other regions. Enough, Arab community leaders argue, to make a difference in a key swing state, which in 2016 was won by Donald Trump with just 10,000 votes and which in 2020 supported Biden with 150,000 votes. Activists believe that without the support of the Arab community, which voted overwhelmingly (64%) for Biden, the president might not have won in the state. And without Michigan, Biden’s path to victory would have been very difficult, if not impossible.
Moving to the foreign platforms, the United States' biggest ally in the Islamic world is Saudi Arabia. It was reported from three different sources in Dubai on February 2(Reuters) that "Saudi Arabia would be willing to accept a political commitment from Israel to create a Palestinian state, rather than anything more binding in a bid to get a defence pact with Washington approved before the U.S. presidential election." This shows that Saudi Arabia is more concerned with the upcoming U.S. election and indirectly rooting for the re-election of the incumbent in order to shore up its security and ward off any potential threats from rival Iran.
Also, is the situation in Iran, one of the archenemies of the U.S. The Iranian government's support of Russia amid its Ukrainian invasion has led to increased tensions and broader Western sanctions, which in turn have drifted the two countries wide apart recently. Under Biden's administration, efforts to further U.S.-Iran ties stagnated. President Biden's administration deprioritised Iran and Raisi, who in turn refrained from expending political capital on the issue. However, with Iran recently electing a new president and the U.S. going to the poll later this year, the outcome of these two countries’ elections is expected to have significant effects in reshaping the relationship.
At this juncture, an alarm bell should be sounded in the entire Islamic world that there is no significant difference between the two presidential hopefuls and that every American regime is synonymous with the Zionist regime, even if Biden seems a better evil. Therefore, Muslims should be wary of the two presidential hopefuls and seek our aid from our Creator. Taking solace in Allaah's (SWT) saying: "Allaah has promised those who have believed among you and done righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession (to authority) upon the earth just as He granted it to those before them and that He will surely establish for them (therein) their religion which He has preferred for them and that He will surely substitute for them, after their fear, security, (for) they worship Me, not associating anything with Me. But whoever disbelieves after that - then those are the defiantly disobedient." (Surah An-Noor vs 55). We tentatively believe that "And (that) indeed, Our soldiers will be those who overcome." (Surah As-Saaffaat vs 173).
In Allaah, we earnestly put our trust.
References:
https://english.elpais.com/usa/elections/2024-02-27/biden-faces-gaza-backlash-from-arab-american-community-as-he-campaigns-for-re-election.html
Wikipedia contributors. (2024, July 7). 2024 United States presidential election. Wikipedia. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_States_presidential_election
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