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The argument put forward in this article is that while the radicalization of Islamists is undoubtedly taking place in North Africa, it is not possible to devise a formula that enables us to predict why people become radicalized or who these people are. (2) Of course, it is feasible to identify a number of radicalized and sometimes violent Islamist groupings, but their emergence, membership base and modus operandi do not conform to a particular pattern. In short, the radicalization of Islamists is a highly complex phenomenon. With regard to violent radicalization, one member of a group may become violent while others do not, hence making the individual rather than the group the victim of such a process.
