Government policies and Muslim radicalism in France and Great Britain. (c2010)

Abstract

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the consequent ‘war on terror’ and the American and British invasion and occupation of Iraq, has magnified the threat posed by Muslim immigrant communities residing in Europe. Terrorists responsible for the 9/11 attacks were Muslims who lived and trained in Western Europe. Moreover, and since the last quarter of the twentieth century young European Muslims have been radicalized at a rate higher than ever before. This study examines the impact of government policies on immigrant Muslim communities residing in Great Britain and France. It explores whether policies of discrimination against these Muslim communities explain recent waves of terrorist attacks in these countries. Muslim communities living in these countries differ in terms of ethnicity and tradition; however they are predominantly Sunni Muslims and migrants from former French and British colonies. Moreover, although Great Britain and France are both secular democracies, each country has its own idiosyncrasies. France is a Laic republic where religion is confined to the private sphere, whereas Great Britain is a secular state in which the Church of England continues to play an important political and social role. This study argues that although government policies are an important variable to be taken into consideration, it does not have a decisive impact on the radicalization of second generation Muslims.