American Muslims and “the New World Order”

I will focus my comments on the recent history of Muslims in the United States following the end of the Cold War when the United States became the sole superpower in the world and engaged in a number of wars with Muslim-majority countries. I will discuss how, in such a context, the discourses surrounding American Muslims have interpolated them within a politicized dichotomy between Islam and the West, which sees Islamic and American culture as inherently opposed to one another. I will then discuss how the actual experiences of American Muslims belie such dichotomous understanding of Islam and America and shed light on the different roles race and religion have historically played in processes of assimilation and in defining American national identity.