Europe After Paris

In the face of the Paris terrorist attack, European officials seem on the verge of making some mad decisions (in every sense of the word, “mad”).

The need to respond to the attack with forceful measures is unquestionable.  However, there are appropriate and inappropriate responses.  Inappropriate responses will lead to failure, and failure is within our grasp if we are not careful.

For instance, Jacques Attali’s analogy that joining forces with Russia to fight terrorism is equivalent to joining forces to win WWII is false.  Joining forces was necessary then to prevent the Axis powers from overwhelming all of Europe.  The terrorist threat is not of the same magnitude, no matter how horrific their actions.  Joining forces with Putin’s Russia when there is no existential threat would undermine European values and authority because it would obscure whether there were limits to what Europe was prepared to tolerate or overlook about Russia’s anti-democratic and despotic government.

More appropriate measures would be the following:

A commitment to a principled response to terrorism and the immigrant crisis that reflects fundamental European values along the lines of those expressed by Angela Merkel, including openness to people who are prepared to share Europe’s values and live within its laws and humane treatment of immigrants who are fleeing intolerable conditions in their countries of origin, as well as zero tolerance for extremism directed at harming individuals or groups who are viewed as different.

Distinguishing between terrorism and the immigrant crisis.  Immigrants are victims of terrorism—at the moment most are the victims of Syrian President Assad’s tyranny.   They do not bring with them the virus of extremism.  Stopping immigrants will not end terrorism because the overwhelming majority of immigrants are decent but desperate people.  Extremists exist and will attempt to enter Europe whether there are immigrants or not.  Moreover, many of the terrorists are Europeans—not just immigrant Europeans who can be distinguished from “other Europeans” by appearance or personal background.  There may be some reasonable measures that can be taken to bring order to the flow of immigrants into Europe and weed out high-risk individuals but the latter should be carried out with extreme care under a well-thought out policy that does not oppress innocent individuals or groups.

Not allowing the political right in Europe to define the problem, especially based on an anti-immigrant basis.  Immigrants are not terrorists.  Muslims are not terrorists.  Extremists are terrorists.  The West must strike at the source of the threat by attacking the conditions that breed extremism in its countries of origin, including in Europe.

Legislating new penalties that address terrorism.  Europe needs to overhaul its laws against those that support terrorists, including those that travel to meet with or learn from terror organizations and those that teach or endorse extremism in Europe or elsewhere or those that fund or receive funding from terrorist organizations (including in some cases Europe’s own far right and left when these espouse violence against groups different than themselves).

Not collaborating with Russia on Russia's terms.  Russia under Putin is a rogue state.  It is no more trustworthy or legitimate then the terrorists.  In fact, Putin’s purpose is the same as the terrorists, to disrupt or collapse the Western-lead international order.  Blogger Ariana Gic Perry said it very well; “Partnering with Putin legitimizes his dictatorship and sacrifices the rights and freedoms of Russians and the lives of Ukrainians.”  And, I would add, the rights and lives of all democratically-minded people elsewhere.

In particular, Russia should not have a voice in defining the objectives or methods against terrorism.  If Russia wants to be partner with the West against terrorism, it should contribute to the existing coalition-lead process to oust Assad and form a stable administration in Syria until a new government and civil order can be established.  Russia, if it choses, could be one partner among many if it is prepared to behave within the bounds of acceptable international statecraft.  If Russia wants to be useful, it should convince Assad to step down, it should police its own borders in the Caucasus to halt the flow of fighters (and material) into Syria, and it could accept many of the immigrants escaping the Syria conflict.