This text refers to items from 143 through 150.

Which has more Islamist terrorism, Europe or America?

1 “Since 9/11, there have been over 2,300 arrests

connected to Islamist terrorism in Europe in contrast to about

60 in the United States.” Thus writes Marc Sageman in his

4 influential new book, Leaderless Jihad: Terror Networks

in the Twenty-First Century (University of Pennsylvania

Press).

7 This one statistical comparison inspires Sageman, in

a chapter he calls The Atlantic Divide, to draw sweeping

conclusions about the superior circumstances of American

10 Muslims. “The rate of arrests on terrorism charges per capita

among Muslims is six times higher in Europe than in the

United States.” The reason for this discrepancy, he argues,

13 “lies in the differences in the extent to which these respective

Muslim communities are radicalized.” He praises “American

cultural exceptionalism”, admonishes European governments

16 “to avoid committing mistakes that risk the loss of good will

in the Muslim community,” and urges Europeans to learn

from Americans.

19 Sageman’s argument rehashes what Spencer

Ackerman wrote in a New Republic cover story of late 2005,

when he found that “Europe’s growing Muslim culture of

22 alienation, marginalization, and jihad isn’t taking root” in the

United States.

But Sageman’s entire case is premised on the

25 figures of 2,300 and 60 arrests. Aside from possible other

causal explanations for these differences, such as the

European legal system permitting more latitude to make

28 terrorism-related arrests, are those figures even correct? He

supports them with only a brief, vague footnote: “Updating

Eggen and Tate, 2005; Lustick 2006: 151-52 agrees with this

31 estimate.” Here, “Eggen and Tate, 2005” refers to a two-part

newspaper article and “Lustick 2006” sources a discredited

extremist screed.

Internet: <www.danielpipes.org> (adapted).

From the text, it can be inferred that

the Muslim community in America is bigger than that of Europe.