Why Do Some Western Muslims Radicalize?

Washington DC - Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has published a video claiming responsibility for the attack on the satirical newspaper in Paris. It says it was to avenge Prophet Muhammed who had been ridiculed by the paper. 

That bloody attack, which resulted in deaths of a dozen journalists, has led to the rise of many questions: was the attack on the newspaper merely a reaction to the cartoons depicting the Prophet of Islam? Or is there a bigger context that we should examine in order to understand what makes two French citizens, born and raised in Paris, espouse radical Islamism? 

In this edition of Inside America, I would like to host an in-depth discussion on what the underlying causes of radicalization of Muslims are in Western societies. 

To discuss this subject, no one knows better than three very distinguished experts who are joining our program today:

- Farah Pandith, an adjunct Senior Fellow at Council on Foreign Relations. Farah was the first ever Special Representative to Muslim Communities for the United States Department of State. She was appointed to this position in 2009 by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

- Michael Ryan, a senior Fellow at The Jamestown Foundation for security and terrorism studies. Michael also held senior positions in the Departments of State and Defense. He is author of Decoding Al-Qaeda’s Strategy: The Deep Battle against America.

- James Jay Carafano, the director of the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies and the deputy director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies at The Heritage Foundation. He is a historian and a recognized expert on national security affairs. Carafano has authored a number of books, including Private Sector/Public Wars: Contracting in Combat-Iraq, Afghanistan and Future Conflicts.