ASSESSMENTS

Getting to the Root of France's Muslim Dilemma

Jan 24, 2016 | 14:02 GMT

A woman holds a white rose near the Toulouse capital building in Jan. 2015 beneath a motto of solidarity for the victims of the Charlie Hebdo attacks.
A woman holds a white rose near the Toulouse capital building in January 2015 beneath a motto of solidarity for the victims of the Charlie Hebdo attacks.

(REMY GABALDA/AFP/Getty Images)

The jihadist attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo signified the beginning of a new period of insecurity for France. Since those shots rang out a little over a year ago, France has been beset by threats, false alarms and more successful attacks. The latest of these, of course, took place in Paris itself, triggering the first nationwide state of emergency since 1961. Having been away for most of 2015, when I arrived back for the holidays I found the country had somehow changed. Disembarking at Charles Gaulle airport's oldest terminal, whimsically known as le Camembert for its roundness, I found the same futuristic, grimy moving walkways and familiar odor of the Paris metro. Much was the same, but then I noticed that the usual airport security was gone, replaced by military personnel patrolling with automatic rifles....

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