THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XIII, Issue # 272, November 17, 2011
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
JUAN COLE -- CRITIC OF DEMOCRACY, APOLOGIST FOR TYRANNY:
JUAN COLE'S TOTALITARIAN ODYSSEY
By Alan Jacobs
JUAN COLE'S SKEWED VIEW OF THE MIDDLE EAST: IN THE MIDDLE EAST, ACCORDING TO COLE, IRAN JUSTIFIABLY
PROTECTS ITS OWN INTERESTS; THE U.S.A. IS A MALIGNANT & AGGRESSIVE FORCE; ISRAEL IS AMERICA'S TRIGGER-HAPPY
SATELLITE; TURKEY'S RULING PARTY (AKP) IS HEADED BY A PRACTICAL & DEMOCRATIC PRIME MINISTER, RECEP TAYYIP
ERDOGAN, WHO PROMOTES "MIDDLE EASTERN MULTICULTURALISM"; AN ISLAMIST PARTY IN TUNISIA, CALLED
ENNAHDA, DOES THE SAME. COLE DISPLAYS A GENERAL TOLERANCE FOR POLITICALLY HOSTILE SENTIMENTS TOWARD
AMERICA & ISRAEL IN THE ARAB WORLD. COLE ARGUES THAT THE U.S.A. & ITS ALLIES ARE BULLIES & MANIPULATORS.
FULL STORY:
Few professors in the controversial world of Middle East Studies boast more about their own notoriety than Juan Cole, a
man who believes the consistent criticism of his public positions to be a sign of distinction. Yale University's decision
not to hire him for an endowed chair five years ago, due to insufficient scholarship, led him to publicly charge that
George W. Bush and the CIA torpedoed his candidacy. When publications and organizations such as Campus
Watch publicize Cole's outlandish commentary, he cries "censorship" and labels them "McCarthyite."
His latest lecture at New York University a collaboration with Sinan Antoon, an Iraqi-American assistant professor of
Arab Culture and Politics at New York University dealt with Iran's response to the "Arab Spring." In a packed room
of over 100 mostly Iranian and Arab-American students, Cole analyzed the Islamic Republic of Iran from a "classical
realist" perspective. If one didn't know any better, one would have departed the lecture believing that Iran justifiably
protects its own interests; that America is a malignant and aggressive force and Israel its trigger-happy satellite; that
Turkey's Islamist Freedom and Development Party (AKP) is headed by a practical and liberal Prime Minister, Erdogan,
who promotes "Middle Eastern multiculturalism"; and that a moderate Islamist party in Tunisia called Ennahda does the
same.
Cole's lecture bounced around the Middle East and North Africa, hardly sticking to one topic for more than a few
minutes. His dispassionate professorial tone evinced few of the biases so clear in his intemperate blog Informed
Comment. Yet his skewed view of the region was nevertheless obvious. He displayed a general tolerance for
politically hostile sentiments toward America and Israel in the Arab world, spoke with astonishing credulity regarding
Islamists and their goals, and argued that America and its allies are bullies and manipulators.
Amid an analysis loaded with sectarian distinctions between Sunni and Shiite, Cole pointed to an area of agreement
between the two: support for Iran's aggressive stance toward Israel. It is no secret that religious divisions hardly
dissuade run-of-the-mill Arab anti-Semites from supporting any entity which promises to "wipe the Zionist entity out
of the pages of time"an Ahmadinejad quote, which, incidentally, Cole falsely claims to be mistranslated and not in
the least genocidal. But describing, as did Cole, the Iranian regime's bellicose threats merely as "a stand on the Palestine
issue" speaks volumes.
Such apologetics are deeply troubling from a man who regularly uses terms such as "Zionofascism" in referring to
Israel's right to exist. Whither the outrage in the following analysis, taken directly from his lecture:
"The Islamic Revolution was an attempt to create a new
paradigm for governance in the region, which was neither
the traditional monarchy nor the officers' regimes or
postcolonial one-party states that were so prominent in
the Middle East. It combines in itself an elective branch
of government with Montesquieu's spirit of laws,
executive-legislative-judiciary, but, at the same time,
incorporates into itself a set of institutions that are
intended to be reflective of Iranian and Shiite
sympathies."
The use of a principal figure of the French Enlightenment to bolster the legitimacy of the Islamic Revolution is typical of
Cole's efforts to whitewash radical Islamists. This is a particularly egregious instance, in that Montesquieu is well
known for advocating the separation of powers to prevent tyranny, which is precisely what exists in Iran.
Cole described America and Israel as imperialistic powers threatening the sovereignty of other countries. Israel, he
claimed, will probably tone down its ostensibly typical aggressive behavior and refrain from attacking a nuclear
Iran because of instability in Egypt:
You don't have a Hosni Mubarak or Omar Suleiman there to support the Israeli position. Now to look for trouble, to me,
seems very unlikely, either from Israelis or Americans.
Similarly, discussing the new warming of Iranian-Egyptian relations, Cole noted that:
"This is Washington and Tel Aviv's worst nightmare.
I assume Egypt has gone from the column of
supporters of the Washington and Israeli line, to . . .
playing footsy with the Iranians. And the Iranians see
this and they can see that one of the outcomes of the
Arab Spring is that those countries that were close to
the West before are now adopting a more independent
foreign policy."
Leaving aside that Tel Aviv is not Israel's capital and that the Israeli government resides in Jerusalem, Cole consistently
described America and Israel as powers demanding adherence to a party line, while Iran merely benefits from Egypt
adopting a "more independent" stance. Throughout the lecture, such negative phrasing was always associated with an
American interest and the positive with an Iranian one.
He later referred to Shiites who supported Musa Sadr the Lebanese founder of the Amal Party, a Shiite Islamist entity
that laid the foundations for the development of Hezbollah as "activist Shiites." (Cole has long been an apologist for
Iranian former President Muhammad Khatami, who is married to Sadr's niece.) No one in his lexicon is an "extremist"
unless they happen to be American Conservatives, "Likudniks," or supporters of any military intervention he opposes.
Sinan Antoon chimed in toward the end of the lecture to express disagreement with Cole's known support for American
intervention in Libya. He also seemed troubled by any Arab or Muslim nation that might approve of America's actions:
"The Iranian regime are not fans of Qaddafi . . . but
are really troubled, as are many Leftists all over the
world, by this cheering for the NATO intervention,
which should be seen in its proper context as an
intervention on the part of the counterrevolutionary
forces of Saudi Arabia and the U.S.A. to contain the
socalled Arab Spring and, of course, to ensure their
own logistical interests on the ground. And I know
I was surprised, too, that the Libyans are waving
U.S. flags, but I think and hope that in the coming
months once all the documents come out and
they realize that, until the last second, France and
Britain and precisely the U.S.A. were firmly behind
Qaddafi these flags are going to disappear."
Antoon's anti-U.S.A. cheerleading was met with applause from the audience.
In the question and answer period following the lecture, the first questioner asked about Turkey's Islamist ruling party,
the AKP, to which Cole responded with clichιs about Islamist "multiculturalism." One wonders how many persecuted
Turkish Kurds or Greeks the professor has spoken to about "multiculturalism" in Turkey. Noting that Tunisia's Islamist
Ennahda party the winner of recent elections takes cues from Turkey's AKP in seeking a similar "moderate
Islamist" model, Cole reassured the questioner, who correctly noted that Turkey has moved far from secularism, that:
"They want to spread the Turkish model. They think
this is the right mix of things; they think it should be
a relatively secular constitution. They're not
interested in promoting Sharia, and on the other
hand, they think you should have a kind of Middle
Eastern multiculturalism."
Yet, Cole had earlier noted recent attempts by Erdogan's party to legislate criminal punishments for adultery.
He described Iran's government as modeled on Montesquieu; Israel as an aggressor willing, but unable, to strike;
America as a cynical and domineering political actor; and Turkish and Tunisian Islamist parties as "relatively secular"
and "multicultural." This is a remarkably inaccurate and ahistorical portrait of a region in which radical Islam is on the
rise. But why should the author of a blog titled Informed Comment get hung up on facts?
Originally Published in Front Page Magazine, November 17, 2011.
Reprinted from Campus Watch, November 17, 2011.
Reprinted with the Permission of Campus Watch.
http://frontpagemag.com/2011/11/17/juan-coles-totalitarian-odyssey/
http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/11873
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
The Islamist Fifth Column -- America's Internal Enemies:
Disloyalty, Subversion, Sedition, & Treason
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
Israel, Arabs, & the Islamic Middle East -- The Israeli-Arab Conflict;
Israeli Politics, Government, & Public Policy -- Public Issues & Controversies;
The State of Israel in War & Peace -- Israel's Role in International Relations;
Israeli Military Defense & National Security -- The Israeli Economy
The Middle East & the Problem of Iran
Turkey, the Middle East, & the U.S.A.
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
Counterterrorism & U.S. National Security
U.S. National Security Strategy
Alan Jacobs is a student of Middle Eastern Studies in New York. This essay was written for Campus Watch, a
project of the Middle East Forum.
Return to Top of Page
Go to the WEBSITE INDEX
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Public Issues & Political Controversies
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
Most Recent Articles
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Volume XIII, 2011
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights
Return to POLITICAL EDUCATION Homepage
CONTACT & ACCESS INFORMATION
This is not a commercial website. The sole purpose of the website is to share with interested persons information regarding civics,
civic and social education, political science, government, politics, law, constitutional law and history, public policy and political
philosophy and history, as well as current and recent political developments, public issues, and political controversies.
POLITICAL EDUCATION, CONSERVATIVE ANALYSIS
POLITICS, SOCIETY, & THE SOVEREIGN STATE
Website of Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr.
Government, Politics, Public Policy, Legal Issues, Constitutional Law, Government & the Economy, Cultural Values, Foreign Affairs,
International Relations, Military Defense & National Security, Geopolitics, Terrorism & Homeland Security, American National Interests,
Political Systems & Processes, Political Institutions, Political Ideologies, & Political Philosophy
INDEX FOR THE ENTIRE WEBSITE
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues
Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity