Islamic Terrorist Radicalisation in Europe
Islamic Terrorist Radicalisation in Europe

Author(s): Olivier Roy
Subject(s): Governance, Public Law, Politics and religion
Published by: CEPS Centre for European Policy Studies
Keywords: Terrorism;
Summary/Abstract: The West European terrorist Since 9/11, a great deal of data has been accumulated on the terrorists linked to al Qaeda. The picture that emerges shows the growing role played by Western Muslims. They constitute the bulk of the terrorists involved in actions perpetrated here in Europe. But they are also involved in terrorist actions abroad and participate in the different international military jihad (from Faluja to Kashmir). These Western Muslims have varied personal histories and include different categories: the majority are second-generation Muslims who were either born in Europe or came as children; we also find people who came as students or as political refugees; thirdly, there has been a significant number of converts. They all share common patterns. They speak European languages, are Western educated, and many have citizenship of a European country. They have had a ‘normal’ Western teenager’s upbringing, with no conspicuous religious practices, often going to night clubs, ‘womanising’ and drinking alcohol. None have previous religious training. Most of them are born-again (or converts): they became religious-minded Muslims in Europe, even if a few of them, in the aftermath of (re)discovering Islam, went to Middle Eastern madrasa (school or college) to improve their religious knowledge (this is mainly true of British Pakistanis and of converts). When they went to university, their curricula were modern and secular (computer science, engineering, etc.). In many ways they are modern.

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