The "Islamic Bomb": Perceptions of Middle Eastern Nuclear Proliferation, 1979–1989.

The article examines the growth, mutation, and use of Islamic bomb perceptions in U.S. policymaking and media representations from its public emergence in 1979 through 1989. Topics discussed include the deep historical anxieties about Arabs and challenges to Western authority originating in the Middle East and North Africa where religion and race intersect, the construction of an image of assertive Arab unity by post World War Two pan-Arabism, and the foreign policies of former U.S. presidents including Jimmy Carter.