Academia in the West has named the Western sense of superiority over the Eastern countries as “orientalism”. This concept encompasses stereotypes and distorted views of the Middle East.
Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist and expert of Iran and US foreign policy Dr. Majid Rafizadeh points out that orientalism shaped the outlook of academics who began to view, from the seventies onwards, the Middle East as a victim of the West. He said: “They started criticizing their own Western governments for imperialism, colonialism and suppression of Easterners, and for not respecting the cultural and religious authenticity of the Middle East. Soon, people avoided making comments that would characterize them as orientalist. Calling someone orientalist became an insult.”