The Economist explains:
Senior British insiders say that, although paths to extremism vary widely, they tend to follow certain social and psychological patterns. Frequently, a young Muslim man falls out of mainstream society, becoming alienated both from his parents and from the “stuffy” Islamic culture in which he was brought up. He may become more devout, but the reverse is more likely. He turns to drink, drugs and petty crime before seeing a “solution” to his problems—and the world's—in radical Islam.
Olivier Roy, a French writer on global Islam, has described “neo-fundamentalism” (which may or may not be violent) as a broad reaction by Muslims in western countries against their families and background, as well as against their host societies. As Mr Roy portrays them, such Muslims have abandoned the food, music and customs of the “old country” but still feel repelled by the ethos and values of the “new country”. Adrift from both, they are attracted by a simple, electronically disseminated version of the faith which can readily be propagated among people of all cultures, including white Europeans.
Another French “Islamologue”, Antoine Sfeir, has identified relations between the sexes as a big factor in the re-Islamisation of second-generation Muslims in Europe. Because young Muslim women often do better than men at adapting to the host society (they tend to do better at school, for example), old patriarchal structures are upset and young men acquire a strong incentive to reassert the old order.
It appears that many of these young Muslim men are attracted to Islamic extremism for some of the same reasons that religious adherents all over the world are attracted to fundamentalism in various religions. They, however, deal with the added stress of following a faith that doesn't enjoy widespread support and respect in the countries they call home. They have to travel abroad to find Muslim nations, but they also find that those nations are much poorer than the secular nations they grew up in. It's no wonder they feel adrift — but is that enough to explain why they turn to violence?
It's not; there is also the added element of so many violent Muslim extremists who can be found around the world. The legacy of Afghanistan continues to haunt Europe:
Things become far more dangerous, of course, when committed radicals come into contact with veterans of wars in Chechnya and Bosnia, or of the Afghan training camps where several hundred Britons are believed to have been schooled. These veterans either have the know-how to plan an atrocity, or can find somebody who does, and it is under their influence that hopeless missions can turn deadly.
Unfortunately, much the same may be happening in Iraq, too. A significant number of insurgents in Iraq appear to be radical Muslims from outside Iraq. In fighting Americans, they are gaining invaluable experience in things like planning successful ambushes, creating and using bombs, how to most effectively use terror, and of course how to specifically fight against American military or police tactics.
Will these skills die out once America leaves Iraq? Of course not. Will America kill everyone who is learning these things? Of course not. These people will fan out around the world, just as their predecessors did after the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan. They will carry a message of violent, extremist Islam to people who are looking for an explanation for why they are suffering and a solution to make things better.
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