Feeling Betrayed

Abstract

Steven Kull’s Feeling Betrayed is a great addition to the literature on what motivated the 9/11 attacks. His critical analysis is based upon hundreds of interviews conducted by international polling agencies in Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. Participants were Sunni and Shi‘i, men and women, as well as Islamists, modernists, and secularists. The nine-chapter book contains charts designed to facilitate reader comprehension of the data presented. Among his findings are the following: (1) Muslims perceive the United States as dominant, exploitive, oppressive, and undermining of their values and cultures; (2) Washington talks about promoting democracy in the Muslim world but supports military regimes and monarchies; (3) it undercuts democracy and social justice by telling Arab leaders what to do; and (4) it does not live up to its ideal values. Unfortunately, he bases his very frequent sweeping generalizations (viz., “Muslims in …. say”) on the words of a minute fraction of the global Muslim population. In fact, many other polls reveal that millions of Muslims hold a positive image of the United States ...