Europe’s non-assimilation of immigrants yields divided societies unless hardened by expensive immigration restriction

Evidence

European societies generally either do not want to assimilate immigrants or have great difficulty doing so, and the degree to which Muslim immigrants and their children want to be assimilated is unclear. Hence sustained substantial immigration is likely to produce countries divided into Christian and Muslim communities. This outcome can be avoided to the extent that European governments and peoples are willing to bear the costs of restricting such immigration, which include the direct fiscal costs of anti-immigration measures, the social costs of further alienating existing immigrant communities, and the potential long-term economic costs of labor shortages and lower rates of growth. — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 544

Categorization

• QUESTION: The assimilation claim for Muslim immigrants is asserted as unclear; worth checking the empirical record on European Muslim assimilation rates decades later.
• XREF: Connects to the reader’s interest in trade and group reputation/institutional enforcement mechanics — immigration restriction framed as a collective-choice cost problem mirrors Milgrom’s institutional analysis.