Despite the numerous policies implemented over the past decades, radical Islamism remains a complex and multidimensional threat to both France and Europe. Several recent reports have underscored this, notably the French Ministry of the Interior’s report published last May on the role of the Muslim Brotherhood and political Islam in France. It is in this context that this policy paper is positioned, as a strategic contribution to the reconstruction of the republican pact and to addressing a central question: how to confront radical Islamism?
The analysis shows that the threat is no longer limited to spectacular terrorist actions, but is now part of a comprehensive ideological project advancing at the heart of social, educational, cultural, and institutional spheres. Three main movements structure this dynamic: radical Shiism, driven by the Iranian revolutionary ideology and its financial and community networks; extremist Sunni groups such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda, militarily weakened but still active through digital radicalisation and the inspiration of isolated actors; and finally the Muslim Brotherhood, present in France since the 1980s, deploying a legalist entryism strategy aimed at gradually transforming social and cultural frameworks. This diffuse progression, fuelled by online propaganda, identity fractures, and certain associative influences, highlights the limits of purely security-based responses.
To respond effectively to this challenge, it is essential to adopt a comprehensive and sustainable approach based on a “total pressure” logic, combining social, legislative, security, and ideological dimensions. This requires strengthening republican cohesion by combating discrimination, promoting republican Muslim figures, and reforming civic education; adapting the legislative framework to regulate associations, places of worship, and foreign funding; modernising security measures to confront digital radicalisation; and reclaiming the ideological initiative by supporting a credible counter-narrative, promoted by progressive Muslim thinkers and accompanied by an independent observatory of radical religious discourse. France possesses the intellectual, legal, and social resources necessary to meet this challenge. What is now required is clarity, consistency, and political courage to act without delay and mobilise all institutions and civil society around this national priority.
