NEW YORK: The 15 million Muslims residing in Europe today do not pose a threat to European values or politics given the extent of their myriad divisions and internal fragmentation, a new study has said.

This conclusion contradicts analysts and policymakers who after 9/11 fear the impact of Muslims on European politics and policy based on the assumption that a Muslim bloc will soon emerge to dominate the foreign and domestic policies of European states if nothing is done to prevent it.

The findings of the study, coauthored by political scientists - Carolyn M. Warner and Manfred W. Wenner - at Arizona State University and entitled "Religion and the Political Organization of Muslims in Europe," appeared in 'Perspectives on Politics,' a journal of the American Political Science Association (APSA).

The authors explore the diversity that characterizes Muslims in Europe as well as the documented instances of their inability "despite plentiful incentives, opportunities, and pressure to do so" to form coherent political fronts in countries like France and Germany that host large Muslim populations.

"Western fears and criticisms are partly based on serious ignorance of the characteristics of Islam and of the people in Europe who adhere to it," the authors said, pointing out that "Islam is a highly decentralized religion 'structurally biased against facilitating large scale collective action."