After the collapse of Communism, a contemporary conspiracy theory began to take shape during the Reagan years in the U.S – the “Green Threat of Islam” (or Islamic fundamentalism) replaced the “Red Threat” of Communism.

It helped that the U.S.’s favourite ruler in the Muslim world, the Shah of Iran, was toppled by religious Ayatollahs. It helped that there were movements in the Muslim world trying to take back their countries from Western-backed regimes. It also helped that people in the Muslim world expressed this desire for political change in alien religious terms and narratives (how else would religious non-secular societies express themselves?).

And it helped the narrative that some Muslims adopted violence against Western countries which backed their rulers; and some also called for Islamic States to protect Muslim life, much like Jews had called for a Jewish state.

So increasing religiosity among Muslims, with outward Islamic appearance, were the visible ingredients needed to highlight the “alien” threat to Europe.