1.  Analysis | 02/05/2007

Islam in Europe – The Exception to the Rule?

Can one today speak of a return of religiousness to European culture due to Muslim immigrants? According to Olivier Roy, the new order of religious identities is to be viewed within the context of a globalised world. » more

Olivier Roy on different forms of Islamism

Social scientist Olivier Roy outlines the motives behind various Islamist movements, recommending a policy change for the new US government: "Barack Obama's new government faces two types of Islamist movements between Gaza and Kandahar: those with a global programme (Al Qaeda and its local groups) and those with territorial and national priorities (Taliban, Hamas, a majority of the insurgents in Iraq, etc.). There is nothing to negotiate with the global Jihadists. But the Islamist movements with a national base can be neither ignored nor liquidated. ... The so called 'war on terror' waged during the Bush years blurred this fundamental distinction by labelling all opposition to governments supported by the US as terrorist. The very concept of the 'war on terror' prevented a political approach to these conflicts and relied on military victory which proved very difficult to achieve. But where political strategies were implemented, they functioned. The comparative success encountered in the strengthening of Iraq was implicitly based on renouncing the official doctrine of a 'war on terror'. The rebellious local movements were recognised as more or less legitimate, and not lumped together with foreign-led militant movements which put no stock in the national interests of Iraq."

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » U.S.

The geopolitical aspect of the cartoon row

Olivier Roy, a French specialist of the Middle East, proposes a geopolitical reading of the protests sparked by the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. "The map of protest movements shows that the countries where violence has occurred are those in which the regimes or certain political forces have bones of contention with Europeans. The violence has been abetted by states or political movements that reject the European presence in a certain number of crises in the Middle East. ... It would be laughable to see the Syrian regime presenting itself as a defender of Islam if the consequences were not so tragic! A regime that has exterminated tens of thousands of Muslim Brothers spearheading the defence of Muslims! What we are seeing is a strictly political manoeuvre aimed at allowing it to regain some influence in Lebanon by allying itself with those who feel ignored, or threatened, by Europe's policies."

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More from the press review on the subject » Society, » Europe