The West’s Real Fear: A Unified Muslim World

In a recent Fox News interview with Sean Hannity, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio revived the familiar rhetoric of “radical Islam,” expansionist Caliphates, and threats to the West. His comments not only echo two decades of post-9/11 messaging but also reveal something deeper - an underlying fear of a powerful united Muslim world.

Hannity framed his questions in the context of the “America First” doctrine championed by Trump. To understand Rubio’s response, one must recall the neoconservative era of the 2000s, when U.S. foreign policy revolved around invasions, regime change, nation-building and “democratizing” the Middle East. This was done and continues to be implemented under the guise of promoting the liberal order while actually expanding American global influence and securing the Zionist project and its regional dominance.

America spent trillions of dollars into Iraq and Afghanistan, only to face stalemates, humiliation, and a global reputation tarnished by endless war. And yet, today’s MAGA rhetoric, despite claiming to reject Bush-era neoconservatism mirrors the same logic - fear of Islam, fear of “expansionist” Muslim entities, talk of WMDs, demonization of geopolitical rivals and manufacturing public support for intervention. The recent language used about Venezuela linking its government to “narco-terrorists” aligned with “radical Islam” is a perfect example of neocon messaging revived under a different brand but same imperial ambitions.

Rubio fear-mongers “radical Islam” as a revolutionary force bent on global domination. He states, “they will never be satisfied with their own little Caliphate...they want to expand... control more territory...they have designs on the West, on the U.S., on Europe...” And yet, he is blind to the hypocrisy of American imperialism that maintains over 750 military bases across the world, thousands of troops in Japan, South Korea, Germany, Italy and the Muslim world and continues to support the territorial expansion of the Zionist entity that essentially functions as America’s forward operating base in the heart of the Muslim world.

Across the Muslim world opposition to U.S. power has consistently centered on its foreign policy that installs or supports authoritarian regimes, manufactures coups, occupies and bombs Muslim lands, enforces economic sanctions, interferes in governance, imposes secularism and opposes Islam. The cumulative impact of these policies is visible in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Palestine, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and beyond. Thousands have been killed, millions displaced, shattered infrastructure, and economic collapse are not abstractions, rather, they are lived realities. To frame opposition to such outcomes as hostility toward “freedom” is delusional self-aggrandizement.

Opposing the Caliphate

For over a century, Western strategic doctrine has consistently opposed the re-emergence of a unified Islamic political authority embodied in the Caliphate. This opposition is not rooted merely in cultural discomfort or concerns about radicalism. Rather, it is driven by geopolitical, economic, and ideological realities. The Caliphate historically functioned as a great power and its abolition enabled Western domination of the Muslim world. Its re-establishment threatens the current global order through its strategic geography, vast resources, population size, and ideological independence.

Authoritarian regimes in the Muslim world are part of the West’s plan to prevent the re-establishment of a Caliphate. Public anger against Muslim regimes is not from abstract radicalism, but from lived experience under authoritarian rule sustained by foreign colonial control.

In such contexts, viewing the U.S. as a destructive force is not the product of extremist indoctrination; rather, it is the rational expression of sustained oppression. Rubio’s comments reveal this deeper fear of a truly united Ummah. They divulge the anxiety over the gradual erosion of American hegemony and the possibility that a major civilizational bloc may chart its own course. Understanding this is essential. Fear mongering about “radical Islam” and security threats in this context is not about protecting citizens or even fear of the religion. Rather, it is about preserving empire.

Uniting the Ummah & Hizb ut Tahrir

The re-establishment of a Caliphate is not “radical Islam.” Rather, it is part of normative Islam. The Caliphate is the political leadership of the global Muslim Ummah that implements Islam. It is obligatory, not optional. Its absence is a sin.

“They (the scholars) consented that it is an obligation upon the Muslims to appoint a Khalifah, and that its obligation is by revelation, not reason. (Imam an-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim)

Hizb ut Tahrir has been at the forefront for decades in the effort to re-establish the Caliphate and unite the Ummah. Hizb ut Tahrir stands out as a global Islamic political party distinguished by the consistency of its vision and the depth of its intellectual foundations. From its inception in 1953, in al-Quds, Jerusalem, Hizb ut Tahrir emerged with a singular objective and developed detailed materials outlining the structure of the Caliphate, its administrative mechanisms, its economic, judicial, and political systems and a draft constitution.

These works were not produced as academic exercises or philosophical speculation, nor merely as apologetics responding to critics of Islam. Rather, they are intended as a practical framework for clear structured implementation. This practical orientation reflects a forward-looking vision, not nostalgia for the past, but confidence in Islam’s capacity to offer solutions for the present and future. Our vision is for revival of a new global order grounded in justice, accountability, and divine guidance, embodied in the return of a Khilafah (Caliphate) Rashidah, inshaAllah.

Today, Hizb ut Tahrir operates as a global political party spanning from America to Australia. Across diverse cultural and political environments, it has maintained ideological consistency and methodological discipline. Despite facing persecution, restrictions, and media marginalization in many parts of the world, the party has continued to articulate its message with persistence and resolve, mobilizing through non-violent ideological and political means to establish the Caliphate in the Muslim world.

Over decades, Hizb ut Tahrir has contributed significantly to elevating discourse within the Muslim Ummah, particularly by re-centering political thought around the objective of re-establishing the Caliphate. Its legacy lies not only in the positions it has taken, but in its insistence that Muslims think beyond reactive politics and short-term fixes, toward a comprehensive vision rooted in Islam itself. In a world searching for alternatives to the current failing world order, Hizb ut Tahrir continues to present a coherent, principled, and intellectually grounded call to reshape the world toward a just and dignified future for the Ummah and humanity at large.

«ثُمَّ تَكُونُ خِلَافَةً عَلَى مِنْهَاجِ النُّبُوَّةِ» “...and then there will be Khilafah (Caliphate) upon the Prophetic method.” (Musnad Ahmed)