Cultural Synthesis as a Strategy of Neocolonial Power: A Critical Middle Eastern Perspective

Abstract

In this article, the notion of cultural synthesis in the contemporary world system is critically interrogated and presented not as a process of intercultural exchange, but as an important mechanism and symbolic tool of neocolonial domination. Globalization narratives have so far tended to glorify culture as hybrid, fluid and interconnected but this study argues that such processes are intricately woven into asymmetrical power structures privileging Western epistemologies, institutions and cultural norms. Informed by postcolonial theory and soft power, the paper utilizes a qualitative interpretative approach supported by critical discourse analysis of academic literature, popular media representations and policy documents. Grounded in the Middle East as a historically fought-over battleground and geopolitically viable region, this research investigates how mechanisms of mediate imperialism, educational restructuring, NGO incursion, and linguistic dominance come to be engines of cultural hegemony. Hence, it explains, through various case studies in disciplines such as anthropology and religious studies, how cultural synthesis masks processes of ideological imposition, identity restructuring and epistemic marginalization to replicate rather than transcend global difference. However, the discussion of globalization recognizes that it is an ambivalent and contested process whereby local actors negotiate resist and transmutes hegemonic pressures into locally contextualized hybrid cultural forms. This study therefore re-evaluates the dual push and pulls forces of globalization in postcolonial societies, contributing to academia's larger contemporary discussions around neocolonial processes and power relations rather than simply an interchange of ideas.