Armstrong, Islam and Western imperial ism Karen Armstrong challenges the view that there is an inherent incompatibility between the West and the Muslim world. Rather, political and economic factors are behind these increased tensions. Armstrong points out that in the late 19th century many leading Muslim intellectuals were attracted to the West and modernity (Armstrong 2001). But their experience of modernisa tion was quite different from that of Western nations. Not only was it occurring far more rapidly, but it also came in the context of political subjugation Most Muslim countries, including Egypt, Sudan, Libya and Algeria, were occupied by Western coun tries. In many countries there were attempts at introducing democracy, but in the end autocratic leaders were imposed by the West. In Iran, for example, the British and then the Americans backed the Pahlavi shahs as dictatorial leaders. The shahs were sympathetic to the West, on whom they depended, and this gave the West access to the considerable Iranian oil upplies. The Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi was installed in power in 1953 in a coup supported by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and British intelligence services. He proved to be a particularly ruthless