The Impact of Islamic Populations on Security and Foreign Policy in France and Britain?

France and Britain have the largest ethnic Islamic populations in Europe. Scholarly literature has generally focused on questions of integration, the success or failure of integrating these populations, and political reactions to their presence. This paper will focus on another, less researched question: the impact of Islamic populations on security and foreign policy. Journalists and some scholars have noted that the presence of large ethnic populations of Islamic origin has been seen by state authorities as security problem, and has had an important influence on how security is organized and pursued. The presence of these populations creates the perception of a security threat (especially in the post 9-11 world), and therefore helps to create? directly or indirectly? repressive anti-immigrant policies. On the other hand, it has also been argued that these same populations have had an important impact on foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East, in part because of their electoral clout, in part because of fear of unrest. If the first argument tends to see Islamic populations as objects of politics; the second sees them also as actors and participants. This paper will compare the process of security and foreign policy in France and Britain, and the ways that Islamic groups influence this process (a) by the ways that policy-makers understand the importance of their presence; and (b) by organized attempts to assert their presence through political institutions. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]