This book provides an in depth analysis of the challenging relationship between Europe and Islam. The general chapters on secularism, security, identity and solidarity show the challenge of promoting a stable multi-cultural society. In depth analysis of France, Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, and Italy reveal the extent to which this challenge of stable multiculturalism differs from one country to the next. The argument that emerges is not that Europe and Islam are incompatible. Rather it is that reconciling the tensions that arise from the mixing of different cultures will require enormous patience, understanding, and investment. The contributors represent some of the leading voices in debates about European politics – and not just those focusing narrowly on the question of Islam. Hence this volume offers both a gateway to understanding the special relationship between Europe and the Muslim world and a means of tying that understanding to the future of European integration. This book was previously published as a special issue of The International Spectator.
Introduction
Erik Jones and Saskia van Genugten
1. Secularism and Islam: The Theological Predicament
Olivier Roy
2. EU Foreign Policy and Political Islam: Towards a New Entente in the Post-Arab Spring Era?
Timo Behr
3. The French Debate on National Identity and the Sarkozy Presidency: A Retrospective
Jonathan Laurence and Gabriel Goodliffe
4. Muslim Organisations and Intergenerational Change in Germany
Dirk Halm
5. Muslims in Italy: The Need for an ‘Intesa’ with the Italian State
Karim Mezran
6. The Netherlands and Islam: In Defence of Liberalism and Progress?
Saskia van Genugten
7. Islam and Muslim Communities in the UK: Multiculturalism, Faith and Security
Catherine Fieschi and Nick Johnson
8. Identity, Solidarity, and Islam in Europe
Erik Jones
Biography
Erik Jones is Professor of European Studies and International Political Economy at the School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University. He is also Senior Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford.
Saskia van Genugten is the author of Libya in Western Foreign Policies (2016). She has a PhD degree in European Studies from SAIS Johns Hopkins University and currently works as a UAE-based researcher.
