There is no question that the violence in the Middle East is serious issue facing not only the people in that region but also the wider world. The cause of this violence is, however, hotly debated. Many point to extremist interpretations of Islam as the source for the rise of this violent radicalism in Europe and the Middle East.

According to Arun Kundnani though: “the real problem here is nothing to do with religion...It’s a problem of political conflicts taking place in the Middle East and a political issue between the West and the Middle East”. In The Muslims Are Coming! Arun explores these political conflicts and issues and looks at how Western foreign policy is implicated in the growth of extremism.

The rapid growth of domestic surveillance is one of the main areas highlighted by Arun in The Muslims Are Coming!.

In the wake of 9/11 predicting the next major terrorist attack became a key focus of intelligence agencies around the world. As the War on Terror progressed surveillance increased both at home and abroad in the search for potential threats. Arun argues that this growth in surveillance might itself be self-defeating. As he puts it: “we’re collecting so much data about everyone’s lives that the really useful information about the next terrorist attack kind of gets lost”.

Complicating this rise in surveillance is the emergence of rhetoric that identifies Islam as a threat or in opposition to Western values. This idea that there is some fundamental incompatibility between Islamic and Western values is self-perpetuating as an ‘us versus them’ narrative is created which feeds off this polarised language. According to Arun: “on both sides you have this notion that this is a war over identity and over values...which then becomes mutually reinforcing”.

But what are the alternatives to the surveillance policies currently being used? In what ways are they damaging? And how should we try to tackle extremism and domestic and international terrorism? Susan talks with Arun about these and other questions raised by The Muslims Are Coming!. You can listen to the discussion here, starting at 26 minutes.

This week’s music to read to

The show opens with "Enjoy the Silence" by Sylvain Chauveau with Saimonse bringing part one to a close with "Without You I am Nothing". The show ends with Poppy Ackroyd's "Seven".