France is currently in the grip of widespread rioting. The ever-increasing Muslim population is suffering problems of integration, discrimination and unrest. Alex Duval Smith focuses on French society, its obsession with secularism and adapting to a post-colonial world:
“Christophe Bertossian, an immigration specialist at the French Institute for International Relations, believes it is time for a rethink [of French understanding]: ‘Part of the problem is the French approach to integration, based on the concept that everyone is equal. The idea that we are equal is fiction. Ethnic minorities keep being told they do not exist.'”