AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): A segment of the new American right, particularly the spectrum active on digital platforms, has undergone a significant transformation in its view of Islam.
Islam, which was previously considered in conservative American discourse, especially among neoconservatives, as one of the most important threats to Western civilization, is now viewed quite differently by a group of influential figures of the new American right, as a model of power, discipline, identity, and adherence to values that, in their belief, the West has lost.
Travis Alexander, in an article published in the British magazine New Statesman, attempts to explain this shift in approach through the perspectives of figures such as Tucker Carlson, Andrew Tate, Sneako, and Bronze Age Pervert.
In his view, this does not necessarily mean an organized intellectual shift toward Islam, but rather reflects a deeper crisis within this current, a crisis arising from the belief that Western civilization has become weak and devoid of meaning, having lost the elements of power, discipline, and purpose that once distinguished it.
Carlson's Shift in Position
The author considers Tucker Carlson one of the most prominent examples of this shift in approach.
Carlson, who previously used highly critical language against Islam, has now admitted that his previous positions were exaggerated.
He has said, "I said many times on television: the problem is Islam. The problem is Muslims. They all want to kill us... I had such a belief. I was hysterical... but now I know that is not true."
He previously believed the problem lay in Islam and Muslims themselves, but later announced that he no longer holds such a belief.
At the "America First" conference in 2025, Carlson described criticism of American Muslims as disgusting.
However, Carlson has not merely retreated from Islamophobic rhetoric, but has begun to speak positively about some aspects of Islamic societies. He has also praised Sharia law as a source of moral clarity against what he considers Western decadence.
He has also strongly criticized conservatives who attack American Muslims.
Islam; A Symbol of an Alternative Civilization for a Declining West
Alexander believes this shift in approach reveals a broader transformation within the American right.
From the perspective of some figures in this current, Islam is no longer merely a religion viewed from a doctrinal standpoint. Rather, it has become a symbol of a civilization that they imagine still adheres to power, discipline, family, authority, and identity, while they see the West as trapped in individualism, liberalism, pluralism, and what they call decadence.
This is more evident in the case of Andrew Tate, a convert to Islam who, according to the author, has made Islam part of his public image online.
Tate does not focus much on religious teachings or the spiritual aspect of Islam, but rather emphasizes what he sees in Islam as discipline, strictness, hierarchy, and traditional roles of men and women.
The author quotes Tate as saying, "Islam is the last religion... it is the only faith whose fundamental principles are still respected by its followers... if you tolerate everything, then you actually stand for nothing."
Confronting the Chaos of Modern Liberalism
According to Alexander, Islam for Tate has become a tool to confront what he sees as the chaos of modern liberal society.
Tate believes Western societies have become ready to accept anything, while Islam, in the interpretation he presents, establishes clear boundaries that must not be crossed.
However, the author believes this is a selective interpretation, because Tate chooses an image of Islam that aligns with his discourse on masculinity and power, while ignoring the fundamental religious and spiritual aspects of Islamic beliefs.
Alexander also introduces Sneako as another example of the same phenomenon. His interest in Islam is linked to the world of young influencers, especially under the influence of Andrew Tate.
According to Alexander, for Sneako, Islam sometimes becomes part of his lifestyle and image on social media, from posting videos of mosques or Quran recitation to content related to sports, discipline, and self-improvement.
A Civilization That Has Not Surrendered to Weakness and Softness
But Bronze Age Pervert, who is not a Muslim, represents a more philosophical level of this current.
He focuses on the idea that the West has become weak, loose, and devoid of meaning, and presents some Islamic societies as examples of civilizations that, in his view, have not surrendered to weakness, individualism, or what the author calls softness.
From here, Alexander arrives at the main idea of his article: these individuals do not necessarily accept Islam as a religion, but rather approach it as an image or symbol of things such as order, discipline, collective identity, purpose, and belief in a fixed value system that they believe the West has lost.
However, the author believes this admiration comes with a great contradiction. In his analysis, these influencers want to acquire an image of Islamic discipline without fully adhering to the religious and moral dimensions of Islam.
For this reason, he describes this phenomenon as a kind of "Islam without Islam," which is the exploitation of the appearance of power, discipline, and strictness without actual acceptance of religious teachings and their requirements.
From Enemy of the West to a Model for Confronting Western Decadence
Ultimately, Alexander believes the greatest contradiction is that the right-wing digital activists, who once considered Islam the greatest enemy of the West, now use Islam itself as a model for confronting a West they believe has collapsed from within.
In the author's view, neoconservatives viewed Islam as an external threat to Western civilization, while some new American right activists consider Islam as the last civilizational model for resisting what they perceive as Western decadence.
Therefore, the author does not believe this current has become Islamist. Rather, in his view, this spectrum uses an imaginary and selective image of Islam to achieve another goal: the search for order, power, identity, and meaning that it believes the West has lost.
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