The New Frontiers of Jihad: Radical Islam in Europe

by Alison Pargeter

Overview

The arrests of scores of terrorist suspects across Europe following 9/11, as well as the attacks in London and Madrid in 2004 and 2005, were a stark reminder that the continent is host to militant Islamists of varying backgrounds. From veterans of the war in Afghanistan, to members of Middle Eastern insurgent groups, to second-generation immigrants and European converts, these radicals have all contributed to the image of Europe as a breeding ground for religiously inspired political violence. Yet very little is known about exactly who these Islamists are, why they are in Europe, and how and why they became involved in militant Islam.

Much of the commentary that has appeared in the post-9/11 era has tended to attribute the same aims and objectives to all Islamists and label them part of one globalized movement whose primary target is the West. Contrary to what some analysts have claimed, however, the European Muslim community has not become radicalized en masse. Similarly, it is often assumed that these radical Islamists are linked to Al Qaeda and share the same ideology. Yet in many cases these links are more tenuous than is suggested.

In The New Frontiers of Jihad, Alison Pargeter delves into the causes, motivations, and diverse forms of Islamic extremism in Europe. Drawing on original research and interviews conducted with moderates and radicals across the continent, she shows how the lexicon of the war on terror has succeeded in distorting the complexities and peculiarities of a movement that, although based in Europe, is inextricably linked with the politics of the Islamic world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780812241464
Publisher:	University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
Publication date:	08/27/2008
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Alison Pargeter is a Senior Research Associate at the Centre of International Studies at the University of Cambridge, where she is also a visiting scholar at Pembroke College. She has conducted numerous research projects on issues related to political Islam, violence, and radicalization in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Introduction vii

1. The First Wave of Radicals 1
2. Europe as Islamic Melting Pot 16
3. Recruitment for Jihad 32
4. Islamist Opposition Groups and European Support Networks 47
5. Europe as Battleground 64
6. Algerian Radicalism Targets France 77
7. The 9/11 Effect and 'Globalized' Islam 98
8. The Madrid Bombings 115
9. The London Bombings 140
10. Radical Converts 166
11. The Danish Cartoon Row and the Dilemma of the Moderates 187
Conclusion 204

Notes 210
Index 239

Editorial Reviews

"A seminal work on Islamist radicalism in Europe."—The Economist

From the Publisher

Rejecting the conventional wisdom that the European jihad is monolithic and rooted in local conditions (alienation, marginalization), Pargeter argues that it is instead "plagued by division, petty infighting, and battles of ego," and is "shaped by powers outside the continent." The book's careful analysis demonstrates that the initial wave of radical Islam in Europe in the 1980s was rooted in political struggles against secular governments in the Middle East and that the continent evolved over time into a base "to assist the struggle back home." Even after 9/11, the author claims that the popular notion of a global jihad remains a myth, and after analyzing the terror attacks in Madrid and London, concludes that the evidence linking the perpetrators with al-Qaeda is speculative at best. Pargeter is careful to note that the radicals are a minority within a minority, and her prescription for understanding and combating radical Islam in Europe is to look first to "conditions in the Islamic world." Local "counter-radicalization strategies," she argues, can not work in isolation. Provocative, timely and well-reasoned, Pargeter's iconoclastic views deserve a wide audience.
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