Donald Trump at the National Prayer Breakfast February 2, 2017 in Washington, DC. Picture by Win Mcnamee DPA/PA Images. All rights reserved. Even if one subscribes to the questionable concepts of collective guilt and collective punishment, it is quite clear that Donald Trump’s decision to ban citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US serves only one purpose: To satisfy the alt-right, a loose set of far-right ideologies, groups and individuals united in their opposition to multiculturalism, social justice movements and mainstream conservatism whose torchbearer Steve Bannon is a key power broker within the new administration.
Notably, not one of the 9/11 attackers came from any of the seven countries affected. In fact, according to an analysis by the Cato Institute, none of their nationals has killed Americans on US territory between 1975 and 2015.
While the ban doesn’t make the United States any safer, it is likely to make both the US and the rest of the world a less secure place. Just like the Bush administration’s “global war on terror” rhetoric, the ban will help extremist demagogues to convince potential followers that the US is at war with Islam. But while Bush repeatedly emphasized that it was not, Trump doesn’t even distinguish between ‘moderate’ and less ‘moderate’ Muslims. Both his rhetoric and his actions alienate the Muslim community and the leaders of Muslim-majority states which are key to fighting domestic and international Islamic extremism.
