The Impact and the Role of the Middle Eastern and North African Diaspora in Shaping Identity Crises in European Countries

The migration from the Middle East and North Africa to Europe due to war and insecurity over the past two decades has led to the formation of Diaspora groups in Europe, which has raised growing concerns in the European society. Far-right parties as well as other political parties believe that the existence of Middle East and North African Diaspora will create identity crises across the Europe. The aim of this research paper is to examine the impact of Middle East and North African Diaspora on the formation of identity crises in European countries and the response of right-wing parties from the perspective of international relations, whereas the method of gathering research data and information is carried out through library studies, including but not limited to documents, books, major national and international journals and theories of the doctrine of international relations. After a conceptual study, taking into consideration the migratory background of African and Middle Eastern countries and the reaction of far-right parties to the Diaspora, identity and its contributing parameters have also been evaluated. Findings of the paper show that the creation of contributory factors to identity crisis and deviation from the underlying factors of collective identity also bring about identity crisis. The identity crisis of the European society has two dimensions, namely national-cultural and national-political identity crisis; while the parameters of cognition and belief affect national-cultural identity, the psychological ones have an impact on national-political identity. Furthermore, the response of far-right parties from different political strands shows that they hold a common view of the Diaspora and consider it a serious threat to their identity. Given the need for young labor force and the aging population in Europe, an identity crisis will be inevitable despite the opposition of far-right parties.