No Ban, No Wall protests at PHL airport, January 29, 2017. Picture by Joe Piette/Flickr. CC BY-NC 2.0. Some rights reserved.The controversial ‘Muslim ban’ that has led to the widespread panic and a second spike of outrage since the Woman’s March against Trump’s inauguration is a sobering reflection of the sordid state of affairs in the US. It reveals the failures of past administrations – not just the current – in managing the most insidious symptoms of the longstanding, myopic western policy toward the Middle East. While the new immigration-blocking measure is framed in the media and in global discussions as the derailing of American policy, it is not the unique by-product of Trump’s isolationist train of thought. Far from signaling a new American agenda, it signals a naked national security strategy that further entrenches the stance of the “west versus the rest.”
The executive order, which attempts to curb immigration of citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East, taken from Obama’s 2014 list of “failed states” in the region no less, is a move to mop up the run-off of the damaging western exploits in the region. Rather than maintain a ‘split-brain’ policy of violence toward Muslims abroad and a semblance of tolerance at home to mask overseas indiscretions, Trump's new policy is actually more in keeping with longstanding US priorities and geo-strategic goals than not; foremost among them being support for the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine, the curbing of ‘terror’ which replaced the threat of communism, and quenching its addiction to oil.
Institutionalised forms of discrimination at home have also been a standard feature of American policy following 9-11
