Violating human rights to protect human rights: the rise of European far right nationalism in the face of rising islamic fundamentalism

Abstract

European nationalism has been present in European countries ever since the French revolution. However, in recent years, it has been on the rise. For many studies, the reason behind this recent surge in rising nationalism can be linked back to fears of threats to the European continent, on the territorial, political and socioeconomic levels. Those are mostly caused by extreme Islamic fundamentalist groups. It seems that recent extremists’ attacks have forced many European countries, specifically focusing on France and UK for the purposes of this thesis, to pursue some countermeasures based on an extreme nationalist basis. These reactions, however, have been thought to abuse wide groups of innocent Islamic communities, in Europe, through far-right anti-Islamic policies. This senior study thesis will first research the relation between the two extremist ideologies, as well as the impact of the policies on Islamic communities, and Europe on the long run. It will analyze how France and UK have reacted to extremist activities through possibly violating human rights. The answers to the previously listed possibilities will be based on a case study analysis, for each country. The main hypotheses of this thesis revolve around the manifestations of extreme Islamic activities, and the extent to which they affect the rise of extremist European nationalism. This is turn seems to be leading to discriminatory anti-Islamic policies. The purpose of testing those hypotheses in the abovementioned case studies is to conclude on some better policies and possible future plans that might be more inclusive of those communities and considerate of their long term impact on Europe. The thesis might possibly lead to a middle ground, or at least a mitigation of the roots of this serious issue.