Dive into the fascinating and troubling symbiotic relationship between American neoconservatism and radical Islamism in this eye-opening exploration of how two opposing ideological movements shaped our post-Cold War world.

This episode traces the parallel evolution of these movements following the Soviet Union's collapse, when both groups found themselves without a defining enemy. We'll examine how the Reagan administration's support for the Mujahideen in Afghanistan against the Soviets inadvertently nurtured the very forces that would later target America, while figures like Ayman al-Zawahiri transformed Islamic resistance into a global movement.

Discover how neoconservatives, after failing to achieve their desired moral revolution through the Clinton impeachment, pivoted to focus on terrorism as the new existential threat that could unite Americans. Meanwhile, Islamic radicals, facing repeated defeats in their attempts to overthrow Arab regimes, strategically redirected their attacks toward the distant "head of the snake" – the United States.

Most provocatively, this episode reveals how both movements engaged in myth-making and the construction of "phantom enemies" to advance their agendas, creating distorted worldviews that would ultimately collide with devastating consequences after 9/11. Through manipulation of fear and simplified narratives of good versus evil, these ideological adversaries ironically mirrored each other's tactics while setting the stage for decades of conflict.

Join us for this compelling examination of how the intersection of these movements fundamentally reshaped global politics and continues to influence our world today.