№168. Al Qaeda in the West as a Youth Movement: The Power of a Narrative
№168. Al Qaeda in the West as a Youth Movement: The Power of a Narrative

Author(s): Olivier Roy
Subject(s): Geography, Regional studies, Islam studies, Security and defense, Migration Studies, EU-Accession / EU-DEvelopment
Published by: CEPS Centre for European Policy Studies
Keywords: West; Al-Qaeda; youth movements; migration; Islamic radicalisation; terrorism;
Summary/Abstract: Why do we bother, in Europe, about ‘Islamic radicalisation’? The answer seems obvious. There are at least two good reasons: one is terrorism, with its security implications; the other is the issue of integrating second-generation migrants in Europe, apparently the most fertile ground for recruiting terrorists. For most observers, the link between terrorism and integration is a given fact. Al Qaeda-type terrorist activities carried out either in Europe, or by European residents and citizens abroad, are seen as the extreme form, and hence as a logical consequence, of Islam related radicalisation. There is a teleological approach consisting of looking in retrospect at every form of radicalisation and violence associated with the Muslim population in Europe as a harbinger of terrorism.

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