The explosions that rocked the capitals of Jordan and Iraq last week – inspired by terrorist ideology and delivered by suicide bombers – may appear far from the riots that have disrupted cities and towns in France of late. Without the proper attention from French authorities, though, the dotted line between those events could fill in and portend even more trouble.

Now, before anyone jumps to conclusions, I am not suggesting that the protesters on the streets of France, who clamor about legitimate social problems, are cut from the same cloth as Middle Eastern suicide bombers. Anyone who knows France is no stranger to the longstanding inequities that plague immigrant populations in that country, particularly Muslims.

Indeed, I am hard-pressed to think of any country that opens its arms widely and with a full sense of equality to foreign-born residents – or indigenous minorities, for that matter. Even in the United States, where social mobility allows a certain number of people to climb out of economic despair, far too many reside in an essentially permanent underclass.

What strikes me as odd is that so many pundits have seized on the French unrest with such intensity and self-righteous finger-wagging, as if the issue were new or novel. Where were their voices before the riots, when the woes and tensions of French immigrant communities stood just as plainly in view?

In any event, now that the violence has slowed under pressure from state-of-emergency rules and intense policing, French officials and others have an opportunity to step back and consider solutions that could ameliorate the unrest. As in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which exposed similar issues in the United States and led to rapid unraveling of the social fabric, the French experience underscores the vulnerability of modern societies. Equally important, it promotes a sense of urgency in making the opportunities of those societies available to a greater number of citizens – even when the economy is far from robust, as is the case in France.

It is no secret that one of the most common roots of political violence – indeed, of terrorism – is economic. Ditto for social injustice. When the door to a better life appears closed and discrimination sours optimism, frustration and anger inevitably grow.

Rest assured, the discontent in France and other countries is not lost on terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda that seek every chance they can find to tug at the foundations of countries that have invoked their ire. They do not limit their techniques to spectacular acts, such as the coordinated hotel bombings in Amman, Jordan. They also infiltrate, agitate and propagandize communities that could serve as future bases of support. That they have settled in France and other parts of Europe is commonly known.

When the U.S.-led intervention devastated the “theme park for terrorists” that had developed in Afghanistan, those al-Qaeda leaders and followers not killed or detained made their way to other places, including Europe. Also, as famed French anti-terrorism Judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere has warned, people sympathetic to al-Qaeda’s aims have trained in Iraq and returned to Europe to carry out violent acts. French officials rounded up an alleged cell in late September that supposedly was planning attacks in Paris. Such troublemakers are much harder to monitor than previous generations of terrorists because their groups fragment in unpredictable ways.

To the extent that France fails to address the problems of its immigrant Muslim communities, where the majority seeks nothing more than a peaceful and fulfilling life, it will create openings for radicals to recruit.