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13 Brown J. World Aff. 123 (2006-2007)
The Radicalization of Muslim Communities in Europe: Local and Global Dimensions

handle is hein.journals/brownjwa13 and id is 377 raw text is: The Radicalization of Muslim Communities in Europe: Local and Global Dimensions MAHA AzzAM Associate Fellow Chatham House THE RADICALIZATION OF MEMBERS of Muslim communities in Western Europe is part of a complex web of political, religious, and ideological currents. While alienation and lack of integration play an important part in the radicalization process, they may not be the main factors motivating Europe's jihadists to resort to terror; one needs to posit the issue of integration of Muslim immigrant communities within the framework of a Europe that is more ill at ease with immigration than is the United States.' The much-discussed link between such radicalization and the West's foreign policy in the Muslim world remains an area of contention. It is difficult to untangle shared political and religious views among the Muslim community. For example, while the overarching belief of most Muslims is that Western foreign policy has been anti-Muslim in nature (either in what Muslims believe to be unwavering support for Israel, or the Western countries' support for authoritarian regimes, particularly in the Middle East) it is difficult to delineate between Muslims who harbor such views but are non-violent, and those who are willing to resort to violence. This distinction can be frustrating for the political establishment, as evidenced by the Muslim community's reaction to the 7 July bombings in the United Kingdom, where the leaders of the Muslim community condemned the atrocity but seemed to insinuate that they understood the anger of the terrorists.2 Radicalization in the context of this article is about the resort to terror as opposed to the kind of radicalization that rejects terrorism and violence. Muslims in Europe and elsewhere tend to fit the latter category. MAHA AZzAM is an associate fellow at Chatham House (The Royal Institute for International Affairs) in London and a leading commentator and writer on political Islam. Her forthcoming book is Islamism Revisited. Copyright © 2007 by the Brown Journal of WorldAffairs SPRING/SUMMER 2007 - VOLUME XIII, ISSUE 2

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