Ambassador Freeman in an interview 1 noted that throughout the West Asia secular regimes are falling to religious extremists, whether Arab or Jewish.
What is being misunderstood is the role of secular motivation. American foreign policy has been driven by money and violence. Its underlying dogma is that everyone is motivated by money and fear of death such that if the US has the greatest wealth and largest armed forces it can therefore rule the world.
Opponents of US dominance have studied US techniques and concluded that only religious motivation can sustain someone in suffering unbelievable torture, such as 183 waterboarding interrogations 2 , or in resisting the bribery of millions of dollars.
This reminds me of the statement, repeated by Rabbi Hugo Gryn from personal experience, that people with no deep underlying beliefs or religious convictions were the first to crack in a concentration camp.
We can all notice the quiet disappearance of Syrian army officers (cash in hand) contrasts with the long-disciplined fervour of the religious fundamentalists on the other side.
If this is correct, then the US’s extensive use of violence and bribery is the major precipitator of the revival of religious fundamentalism in West Asia.