GD: I would only stress that the existence of radical fighters in Belgium is probably more related to a pan-European phenomenon of this generation of young European born and raised Muslims than to specifics of the country from which their parents arrived here (Algeria or Morocco or other) or to the degree of Muslim integration in the local society. One commonality is resentment at Belgian and other European participation in Western interventions in the Middle East and North Africa that are seen as new Crusades. Another commonality is Saudi financed Wahhabi mosques. What makes Belgium special is the weak governance, hence inability to effectively secure the homeland. And, that this is the home to the EU Institutions and to NATO, making it a particularly visible target in what is an information and ideological war..
JB: Thanks so much for sharing your take on this with us, Gilbert. I learned so much. It was a pleasure talking with you.
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From Gilbert:
I can recommend as a complement to my writing what Ben Taub wrote in The New Yorker back in June 2015. Whereas I have looked at socio-economic and socio-political sides of the emergence of radical Islam in Belgium, Taub took the 'human interest' approach by investigating what attracted Belgian youths to jihad at the family level.: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/01/journey-to-jihad
I can also list several of my past articles on the slow-motion break-up of Belgium:
1) http://usforeignpolicy.blogs.lalibre.be/archive/2011/04/09/belgium-at-the-tipping-point.html
finally, I can recommend my past remarks drawing from the Belgian experience with power sharing in response to the widely discussed solution to Ukraine's problems of two nations under one roof
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