Islam is widely considered Europe's fastest growing religion, with immigration and above average birth rates
leading to a rapid increase in the Muslim population. There has been much debate about solving the problem of "Europe's angry young Muslims." Since the terrorist bombings of London and Madrid, many fear that the anger and frustration of the new generation of young, alienated Muslims may grow into a new homegrown crop of radicalists. In the past year we have seen fierce protests throughout Europe over caricatures depicting the Prophet Muhammad, Berlin's Deutsche Oper's rendition of Mozart's opera, newspaper essays, veils and school customs. This begs the question whether such growth of the Muslim faith in Europe is compatible with Western European values? Or is Europe on the verge of a clash of civilizations?
Stephanie Giry says that assimilation of the Muslim population in France is possible and indicative for the rest 
of Europe. Thus, a so-called clash of civilizations is avoidable. Whether or not the necessary steps will be taken is entirely another question. "These events are evidence that the immigration and integration policies of several European countries have failed," writes Stephanie Giry in France and Its Muslims. While Giry maintains that the question of homegrown terrorism is a serious one, it obscures the fact that the vast majority of Europe's 15-20 million Muslims have nothing to do with radical Islam and are struggling hard to fit in, not opt out.
Muslims desire to assimilate has sometimes been met with a form of discrimination fueled by nativism and a deep distrust of Islam that has made it more difficult for them to find homes and jobs. But what has turned such vexing problems into crushing burdens is the economic stagnation that has afflicted the whole country and defied reform for three decades. The greater problem is that the debate over how to ease these difficulties is now ideologically polarized, having been hijacked by public intellectuals and politicians out of touch with the country's realities. The front-runners of France's 2007 presidential and parliamentary elections seem more interested in using the issue of Muslim integration for their own electoral ends. Some have resorted to scaremongering about security and immigration and have conflated those issues with Muslim integration (sound familiar?).
Despite fears that Muslims would display less than complete loyalty to French values, Muslims have largely acted as independent citizens, keeping their religious beliefs in line with French republicanism. To the extent that they constitute a distinct community, it is only in the eyes of politicians angling for an edge or of those who stigmatize them for religion or countries of origin. If discrimination continues to go unaddressed, there is real danger that French Muslims might get used to being treated as though their religious and ethnic identity was decisive and then start resorting to a kind of defensive identity politics. Such a result would be a self inflicted one for France and an unnecessary one.
France could find a way to both expect and facilitate the full incorporation of French Muslims into national life while respecting both traditional French values and a modern Muslim identity. [In order to do this, the author suggests a bit of public education to demystify Islam, as well as abandoning inflated republican rhetoric].
Giry's article is an insightful look into the successes and failures of Muslim integration into French society with
important implications of future integration in Europe as a whole. While I agree with her analysis that it is the political and intellectual elite who so often manipulate the Muslim population, as well as other minorities, for their own political purposes, I think the solution is much more complex than public education and abandoning republican rhetoric. Really, it is the whole of French society that needs to create avenues for reform in the private and public sectors. It is the minds and attitudes of the French people that need to change.
Nicaragua's National Assembly unanimously passed a wholesale ban on abortion, yesterday, barring even exceptions for rape and when the pregnant woman's life is threatened. The NY Times reports that the measure, passed with 52 votes, 9 abstentions, and 29 legislators absent, is expected to be approved by President Enrique Bolanos (bo-lawn-yos). (H/T: Passport.) Nicaragua would then join El Salvador and Chile as the only countries in the Western hemisphere to eliminate all exceptions for their bans on abortion.
