The fall of the Soviet Union and the global decline of communism left a sociopolitical and existential void for the United States. After decades of saber-rattling, competition, and strife, the United States was the undisputed victor of the Cold War, inspiring celebration in Washington, D.C., and American cities and towns far from it. And now American policy needed a new geopolitical villain to facilitate its foreign policy objectives and carry forward political interests on the home front. The thrill of victory was momentary, ultimately creating a vacuum. The project of expanding the U.S. sphere of influence rested on identifying an archrival and manufacturing the state-sponsored and popular narratives that this archrival's mission was the downfall of the United States. Again, we are what we hate; lacking that existential archrival and cultural antithesis created confusion about who we, Americans, are and aspire to be.

XREF: Connects to the 'we are what we hate' theme the author states directly, echoing identity-formation theories where groups define themselves against an Other.

Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Unde…, loc. 223