The recent attacks in Paris are part of an ongoing narrative that has sadly claimed another list of innocent victims. The alleged inspiration for the terrorist rampage are France's current military operations against the Islamist group ISIS, having recently shifted from conducting airstrikes solely in Iraq to strikes in Syria.
In a brief statement, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks, citing specifically the "war against Islam in France and their strikes against Muslims in the lands of the Caliphate with their jets" (Washington Post, Nov. 14). In the statement, the language of European "crusaders" is also invoked repeatedly, if unsurprisingly.
It is true, France in recent history has been far less involved in the Middle East than the Unites States and Great Britain. But from the extremist perspective, the West's guilt is generalized and calculated according to the long view of history. This bears a measure of similarity to when some in the West make assumptions about the Arab world's problems dating back "thousands of years." Both claims are less than constructive, though the former has the merit of being accurate.
In the realm of Islamist militancy, ISIS is unique in its ruthlessness and sadism. That said, it and the other jihadist groups like al-Qaida operating in the region are merely the most extreme expression of political Islam. Political Islam's various, and oftentimes non-violent, movements that developed over the mid-twentieth century were a response to Western intervention and sponsorship of repressive regimes in the Middle East. Over the latter half of the century, the response became increasingly violent.
Regardless of how Islamism unfolded over the last 85 years, the overall message and grievances have been more or less constant. Moreover, the same sentiments are shared in large part by the populations across the region. And these sentiments revolve around a concept cherished and held dear by Americans and Europeans: self-determination.
Now well into the twenty-first century, and in the context of two major US-led occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan—reducing both to virtual non-countries—the mutation that is ISIS unfortunately emerged and appears to have moved into a global phase. According to French security services, their country is in for more. Europe as a whole is presumed to be a prime target in ISIS's expanded strategy.
The attacks in Paris were an act of unspeakable cruelty. Yet, it is a reflex for many Europeans and Americans—including the news outlets there—to express greater moral condemnation and solidarity over the murder of people like "us" than, say, people like "them." (Placards declaring "We are all Gazans" are much harder to come by.) However, even if we are principally concerned for our own well-being, it would be practical, in the short term, to at least encourage a diplomatic solution to the civil war in Syria. ISIS is the product of political destabilization; the remedy is political stability.
Though there is likely a military component, the bulk of the solution lies in international support for diplomacy. The hold-up so far has been unwillingness, not inability, and popular pressure could move things forward. And if the suffering of the Syrian people isn't reason enough, maybe the suffering of others will add to the urgency. Furthermore, Americans viewing what happened in Paris with a private sense of relief that this is all happening "over there" are doing so in bad faith.
