Special Report - Islam in the West

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - February 14th, 2019 - A new Special Report from The Economist published in the February 16th edition and online at economist.com, examines Islam’s future in Europe and the West. Nicolas Pelham, Middle East correspondent, says Muslim millennials feel more confident both in their Western identity and their Islam.

“Islam in the West” explores how Muslim identity has been moulded by external and internal pressures since the mass migration to the West began in the 1950s. It traces the impact of the laissez-faire approach Western governments initially adopted to the incoming faith and then of increasingly interventionist policies as the Muslim population grew and the relationship became more troubled. The report notes the past two decades have also been marred by violence and fear. Since 2000 more than 3,670 people have been killed in jihadist attacks in the West, 2,996 of them in America on September 11 2001 alone. Over the same period 119 people died in anti-Muslim assaults. It looks at how Muslim communities have responded to policies designed to aid assimilation or improve security.

This special report also discusses the generational shifts within Muslim communities as their members have adapted to life in the West. Flexibility and pluralism helped Islam flourish as a global religion but recently in the West Muslims have had to devise a theology for living as a small minority among non-Muslims. This is still a work in progress. The first generation of Muslim immigrants largely accepted the West as they found it and kept a low profile, unsure how long they would be staying.

“Islam in the West” considers what can be done to make Islam in Europe less fraught. It explores how Muslim leaders have turned on jihadist ideas and are adapting their faith to a liberal environment of individual rights. Finally, it asks whether Europe and Islam will be able to curb intolerance and flourish together.

For more information and to interview Nicolas Pelham on this topic, please contact:
Tom Amos/The Economist (US), tomamos@economist.com /+1 212 541 0583

Holly Donahue/The Economist (UK), hollydonahue@economist.com /+44 (0) 20 7576 8379

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