This paper will approach comparative Arab studies from the vantage point of the developing field of Transnational American Studies. Scholars like Donald E. Pease and Shelley Fisher Fishkin have called for increased attention to the different ways that American literature, culture, politics, and history transcend the nation-state, through both the literal and figurative movements of money, people, and ideas across and beyond national boundaries. In addition, John Carlos Rowe has argued that these transnational (or “postnational”) scopes are inherently comparative, turning their attention to different American “border zones” such as the Pacific Rim and the black Atlantic. However, when it comes to the Arab world, Transnational American Studies scholars have offered little by way of either comparative studies or literary and cultural analysis (with the exception of studies in political science and, on occasion, transnational history). In part, this is due to the simple fact that, whereas the field of American Studies has prioritized transnational projects, its scholars are rarely equipped with the linguistic skills required to read Arabic texts in their original languages. In a more abstract sense, however, transnational approaches to the U.S. and the Arab world evoke a host of interesting yet challenging questions, such as: If American studies has concerned itself with “border regions” to address issues of American colonialism, how might we conceptualize an American-Arab imperial “border,” and is such a concept appropriate to a comparative study? What are some models for comparative literary and cultural analysis that can address American imperial culture? And what role would the Palestinian struggle play in such frameworks? This paper will explore the possibility of a comparative American-Arab studies that integrates an analysis of U.S. power in the region and Arab responses to it. To do so, it analyzes representations of the PLO in the U.S. and Arab world in the late 60’s and 70’s, highlighting conflicting perspectives on the PLO’s transnational connections, what Paul Chamberlin calls its “global offensive,” and its role in Third World revolutionary culture. As such, the paper gestures towards an analysis of how Palestinian resistance has shaped American imperial culture and how Palestinian and Arab cultural production have served as a counterpoint to American cultural and political hegemony.