In the wake of the Paris attacks and the security scare in Belgium, European governments and radicalization experts are once again struggling to understand what is driving young European Muslims to join the Islamic State and carry out savage acts in their own countries, against fellow nationals
Jamie Dettmer (Voice of America)The story of a radicalisation: ‘I was not thinking my thoughts. I was not myself’
Maysa, a teenager from Brussels, was a music fan and a “ray of sunshine” at school. But a chance encounter on social media had changed her within a year.
Jason Burke (The Guardian)IS offers Belgian youths a thrilling alternative
Young people involved in extremist activists are often ostracised members of society who are provided an attractive alternative to daily life by Islamic State.
Auskar Surbakti (The World (ABC Australia))Deep anxiety pervades Brussels as lockdown continues
With no end in sight to the unprecedented crackdown in the Belgian capital, its economic, social and political costs are rising … and the Belgians react with cat posts…
Jason Burke (The Guardian)Fixing Europe’s Security Crisis Will Need More Than Just Money
The failure of Belgian authorities to keep tabs on the men who plotted this month’s massacre has thrown into relief the gaps in the European Union’s security apparatus.
Caroline Alexander, Gaspard Sebag (Bloomberg)‘Jihad by family’: Why are terrorist cells often made up of brothers?
Use of the term “brother” among extremists is frequently quite literal: terrorist recruitment is highly social, with parents and siblings often joining forces
Jason Burke (The Guardian)How Belgium became a breeding ground for international terrorists
Until now, European security services largely ignored the growth of extremism in the Muslim neighbourhoods of Brussels
Jason Burke (The Guardian)