Edward Said talked about the nature of"political knowledge" of the Middle East in the West. Look at this grants from Carnegie: look how every single one is about a study of Islam. What about those who want to study non-religious aspects of the Middle East? Who will fund them? Do you see how the agenda of research on the Middle East is not independently set. I mean, if you want to study poets in the Abbasid Period, who will fund you, as opposed to "Jihad in Tripoli."