Foreign Policy

“Foreign policy” refers to the strategies and actions that a country takes in relation to other countries. The author discusses how Western foreign policy has been systematically shaped by a hidden architecture of power, leading to interventions in various regions such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Iran, Palestine, Ukraine, and Gaza. The analysis highlights the role of military, political, and economic power in shaping these policies, often with the goal of maintaining geopolitical dominance and ensuring the continuation of conflict for the benefit of entrenched interests.

The author argues that Western foreign policy has been driven by a consistent logic: the use of political Islam as an instrument against secular nationalism, indigenous left movements, and state actors that resist Anglo-American strategic priorities. This approach has been refined over more than a century, with the United Kingdom playing a foundational role in India, and later the United States and Saudi Arabia continuing and expanding this strategy through institutions such as the Muslim World League and the U.S.-Saudi petrodollar arrangement.

The author traces this strategy back to the 19th century, when the British systematically converted religion into the master variable of political identity in India, creating a framework that would later be used to justify interventions in the Middle East and beyond. This pattern continued with the U.S.-Saudi deal in 1945, which established a financial and strategic partnership that allowed for the global spread of Wahhabi doctrine, and the founding of the Muslim World League in 1962, which became a key instrument for promoting political Islam across the Muslim world.

The author also highlights the role of the petrodollar arrangement in sustaining the conflict, as it ensures that oil is priced and traded in U.S. dollars, reinforcing the global financial system and the need for continued military presence in the Middle East. This arrangement has been maintained through a series of operations against states that have attempted to move away from the petrodollar, such as Iraq under Saddam Hussein and Libya under Muammar Gaddafi.

The analysis suggests that Western foreign policy is not primarily motivated by resource extraction, as commonly assumed, but by the maintenance of conflict itself, which generates wealth for defense contractors, technology firms, think tanks, and political donors. The conflict is the “cake,” and all other forms of profiteering are merely the “icing” that depends on the cake continuing to be baked.

The author emphasizes that this foreign policy framework has been operationalized through a network of institutions, including think tanks, media outlets, and financial systems, which have been instrumental in shaping public perception and justifying military interventions. This network has been particularly effective in framing the actions of jihadist groups as the natural outcome of Muslim societies, thereby legitimizing further interventions under the guise of defending Western values.

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Foreign Policy

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