Ansar Mahmood, New Zealand
For over a century, Western powers have exerted influence in Muslim-majority countries, often through the establishment and support of proxy actors. These proxies, whether political, military, or ideological, have played significant roles in shaping the political landscape of these nations. From colonial interventions to Cold War manoeuvres and contemporary geopolitical strategies, the use of proxies has been a recurring theme in Western foreign policy agendas.
Colonial era exploitation
During the era of European colonialism, Western powers established control over vast territories in the Muslim world. This control was often enforced through the installation of puppet regimes and local collaborators who served the interests of their colonial masters. These proxies facilitated the extraction of resources, exploitation of labour, and suppression of Indigenous movements for self-determination. (Said, E. W., Orientalism, 1978, Pantheon Books; Hourani, A, A history of the Arab peoples, 2002, Harvard University Press)
Cold war machinations
The Cold War era witnessed intense competition between the United States and the Soviet Union for influence in the Muslim world. Western powers, particularly the United States, actively engaged in supporting proxy regimes and rebel groups to counter perceived communist threats. This often involved backing authoritarian rulers who were willing to align with Western interests in exchange for military aid and political support. (Kinzer, S, Overthrow: America’s century of regime change from Hawaii to Iraq, 2006, Times Books; Anderson, P, In the tracks of historical materialism, 1987, Verso Books)
Geopolitical manoeuvring
In the post-Cold War era, the geopolitical landscape of the Muslim world has continued to be shaped by Western interventions and the cultivation of proxies. This has been evident in conflicts such as those in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, where Western powers have supported various factions to advance their strategic objectives. Additionally, the rise of extremist groups with ties to Western-backed proxies underscores the complex and often unintended consequences of such interventions. (Cockburn, P., The rise of Islamic State: ISIS and the new Sunni revolution, 2015, Verso Books; Chomsky, N, Failed states: The abuse of power and the assault on democracy, 2007, Metropolitan Books)
The entire world’s focus on the war in Gaza has helped hide the fact that Israel in the 1980s contributed to the rise of the Islamist Hamas as a rival to the secular Palestinian Liberation Organization and its dominant faction, Yasser Arafat’s Fatah. Israel’s policy was clearly influenced by America; training and arming of mujahideen in Pakistan from multiple countries to wage jihad against Soviet forces in Afghanistan. The multibillion-dollar American programme from 1980 to create anti-Soviet soldiers (in Afghanistan) represented what still remains the largest covert operation in the Central Intelligence Agency’s history. In 1985, at a White House ceremony attended by several mujahideen, then-US President Ronald Reagan gestured towards his guests and declared, “These gentlemen are the moral equivalent of America’s Founding Fathers.” From the mujahideen evolved the Taliban and Al-Qaida. As US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton openly admitted in 2010, “We trained them, we equipped them, we funded them, including somebody named Osama bin Laden … And it didn’t work out so well for us.” (“Israels historical role in the rise of Hamas”, www.japantimes.co.jp)
Hamas is alleged to have emerged out of the Israeli-financed Islamist movement in Gaza, with Israel’s then-military governor in that territory, Brig. Gen. Yitzhak Segev, disclosing in 1981 that he had been given a budget for funding Palestinian Islamists to counter the rising power of Palestinian secularists. Hamas, a spin-off of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, was formally established with Israel’s support soon after the first Intifada flared in 1987 as an uprising against the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands.
Israel’s aim was in two parts: to split the nationalist Palestinian movement led by Arafat and, more fundamentally, to thwart the implementation of the two-state solution for resolving the protracted Israeli-Palestinian conflict. By aiding the rise of an Islamist group whose charter rejected recognising the Israeli state, Israel sought to undermine the idea of a two-state solution, including curbing Western support for an independent Palestinian homeland.
Israel’s spy agency, Mossad, played a role in this divide-and-rule game in the occupied territories. In a 1994 book, “The Other Side of Deception,” Mossad whistleblower Victor Ostrovsky contended that aiding Hamas meshed with “Mossad’s general plan” for an Arab world “run by fundamentalists” that would reject “any negotiations with the West,” thereby leaving Israel as “the only democratic, rational country in the region.” Avner Cohen, a former Israeli religious affairs official involved in Gaza for over two decades, told a newspaper interviewer in 2009 that, “Hamas, to my great regret, is Israel’s creation.”
About seven years before US special forces killed bin Laden in a helicopter assault on his hideout near Pakistan’s capital, an Israeli missile strike in 2004 assassinated Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, a quadriplegic and partially blind cleric. By drawing specious distinctions between “good” and “bad” terrorists, Israel and the US, however, continued to maintain ties with extremists.
While Barack Obama was in the White House, the US and its allies toppled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, creating a still-lawless jihadi citadel at Europe’s southern doorstep. They then moved to overthrow another secular dictator, Syria’s Bashar Assad, fueling a civil war that helped enable the rise of the Islamic State, a brutal and mediaeval militia, some of whose foot soldiers were CIA-trained. Apparently shocked by the brutality of some of those US-backed militants, and amid questions over the effectiveness of the policy, American President Donald Trump, in 2017, is reported to have decided to shut down the covert Syrian regime-change programme.
Conclusion
The history of Western powers creating proxies in Muslim countries over the last 120 years is a sobering tale of blood-fueled geopolitical manoeuvring, exploitation, and intended consequences. While the motivations behind these interventions have varied, ranging from strategic interests to ideological rivalries, the impact on the lives of people in these countries has been profound and often devastating. As we reflect on this history, it is essential to recognise the enduring legacy of these interventions and strive for a more equitable and just future for all nations. (Rashid, A, Taliban: Militant Islam, oil, and fundamentalism in Central Asia, 2000, Yale University Press; Johnson, C, Blowback: The costs and consequences of American empire, 2004, Metropolitan Books)