1

Seeds of Hope and Destruction

How Europe's refugee inaction threatens to undermine its own security

By Jo Majerus

A Call for Action

In every generation there comes a time when the calls for

humanity and solidarity can no longer be ignored. When they

demand to be answered with a single voice on a broad and united

front. When the cries of millions for foreign aid and a minimum

degree of humane treatment following years of unconceivable

misery and adversity must not be silenced or rejected. When

instead they must be received with open hearts by all nations not

as veiled attempts by the impoverished to gain illegal access to the

riches of western societies, but as desperate screams for helping

them overcome the agonies of protracted warfare, material

devastation and ethnic displacement. Such are the calls that reach

European countries by the thousands each day as a result of the

aggravating refugee crisis confronting the continent at this very

moment, and they must no longer be allowed to fall on deaf ears.

For one, both morality and historical experience require

nothing less of us than rendering these sorrow-stricken people our

full and unrelenting assistance in the most trying stage of their

lives. Just as important, however, failure to help them while we

still can might also entail dire long-term consequences for our

own long-term safety and security, notably by presenting Islamic

extremists with the very means, mindsets and social environments

necessary for waging war against us on a trans-national scale.

Accordingly, this is the time for all of uscitizens and politicians

aliketo rise up in a common effort to the arguably most daunting

and formidable challenge facing Europe in this day and age. This

is the time for giving back to other fellow human beings in need of

our support just a little bit of that relative comfort , security and

2

ease which we ourselves have been enjoying for so long now and

which we all too often take for granted as being but our own god -

given birthright or prerogative. This is the time to realize that

most of the people now seeking shelter and refuge with us from

the anguish and unimaginable horrors in their native countries

have no intention whatsoever to forcibly wrest away our economic

privileges, nor to undercut our established values and modes of

living. That instead they merely wish to share in the same basic

human rights we all hold so dearpeace, stability and, above all,

freedom from fear, want and persecution. And, finally, this is also

the time to link the current refugee crisis more closely to distinct

geopolitical issues and concerns, notably by more systematically

considering the wider strategic setbacks likely to be incurred in

the event that national leaders prove unable to devise applicable

solutions to the real human suffering endemic to this harrowing

tragedy.

Seeds of Hope....

First of all, however, this is the time to remember where we

ourselves came from, how we got to this state of comparative

wealth and domestic security , what tremendous difficulties we had

to conquer and what massive obstacles we had to vanquish on the

long and rocky path that progressively led us into this era of

unprecedented economic integration and political cooper ation.

Most important of all, this is the moment to recall the goodwill

and assistance we were ourselves initially afforded by other

peoples in our noble endeavour to build a better and brighter

future for us all. To remind ourselves once again of the

undeniable truth that, as John F. Kennedy so eloquently put it, "of

those to whom much is given, much is required." 1 For given much

we were indeed, whether we like to admit it or not.

Regardless of whatever arguments critics may advance in

order to not grant an ever increasing stream of refugees asylum in

Europe, nobody can ultimately dismiss or refute the historical

1 John F. Kennedy, "Address of President-Elect John F. Kennedy Delivered to a Joint Convention of the

General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts," (speech given at the State House, Boston,

Massachusetts, 9 January 1961). http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/OYhUZE2Qo0-

ogdV7ok900A.aspx [accessed 18 September 2015].

3

reality that less than three generations ago, Europeans were

themselves among the most necessitous beneficiaries of foreign

aid the world had ever witnessed. Now that we have all grown so

accustomed to lives spent in material affluence, we too often

forget (or conveniently overlook) the fact that modern European

countries and the many social amenities their citizens benefit from

would never have thrived or come into being in the first place had

it not been for the kindness and generosity which other nations

bestowed upon us in the wake of the second World War. True,

European societies might eventually have recovered of their own

accord, yet most definitely not in such rapid and comprehensive a

fashion as they ultimately did thanks to the enormous level of

external help and support received from other countries. During

that period, vast tides of refugees and uprooted communities

swept the continent from one end to the other, fleeing military

occupation, political reprisals, lawlessness, economic deprivation,

or simply the near total lack of prospects at ever again leading a

charmed and peaceful existence in their homelands on account of

the chaos left behind there by years of incessant warfare and

destruction. 2 Not all of them were permitted to stay in their

chosen place of refuge; still, millions eventually were despite vocal

opposition from all sides over admitting such large crowds into

recipient societies. In time, they were all successfully integrated

and not seldom even became an essential and indispensable part

of the larger socio-economic fabric of these countries. 3

Thus not only did refugees find a new home in culturally

different societies, but hardly any of these nations could,

moreover, also have rebounded all by itself from material

devastation had they not been given the requisite means and

financial wherewithal to reconstruct in the immediate post-war

years. Accordingly, charitable aid agencie s such as the only

recently created UNRRA (United Nations Relief and

Rehabilitation Administration) provided bitterly needed assistance

to millions of homeless people by taking care of them in

2 Tony Judt, Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 (London: The Penguin Press, 2005), pp. 22-26. On

the postwar refugee crisis, see in particular Ben Shephard, The Long Road Home: The Aftermath of the

Second World War (London: Bodley Head, 2010). 3 Judt, Postwar, pp. 26-32.

4

numerous shelters and reception centres throughout Europe. 4

More significant still, however, the continent as a whole could

likewise never have recuperated of its own from the systemic

shocks inflicted on it by the war. The truth of the matter is that

without substantial funds and grants from other nations, above all

from the United States of America , our forefathers would just

plain and simply have lacked the required capacities to forge a

more stable and prosperous Europe to begin with. Specifically,

America's monetary contributions, cu lminating in the 1947

Marshall Plan 5 (a programme which at a combined expenditure of

over 100 billion in today's dollars cost considerably more than the

fiscal burdens projected for abating the current refugee crisis) , 6

altogether played a major and critical role in alleviating the plight

endured by millions of European citizens in those desolate days. 7

In so doing, they not only helped to set entire nation-states back

on the road to economic recovery, but also presented them with

the freedom and opportunity to create for their subjects an

environment free from inter-state warfare, political instability

and/or internal strife. 8

Freedom and opportunitythese two solemn words are key

to understanding why it should be the moral obligation of this

generation to welcome in our midst every single person attempting

to escape internecine violence and bloodshed in his or her home

country. Because after all, freedom and opportunity stand at the

very heart of what we are today, embodying like no other virtues

the essence of what a united and conflict -free Europe should look

like. Freedom and opportunity not only constitute some of our

most esteemed values and ideals; they also form the basis of

nearly every other positive aspect of the varied lives and careers

4 George Woodbridge, UNRRA: The History of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration

(New York: Columbia University Press, 1950); Susan E. Armstrong-Reid and David Murray; Armies of

Peace: Canada and the UNRRA Years (Toronto: Toronto University Press, 2008). 5 On the European Recovery Programme, see especially Michael J. Hogan, The Marshall Plan: America,

Britain and the Reconstruction of Western Europe, 1947-1952 (Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press, 1987). 6 Barry Machado, "A Usable Marshall Plan," in: The Marshall Plan: Lessons Learned for the 21st Century,

edited by Eliot Sorel and Pier Carlo Padoan (Paris: OECD Publishing, 2008), p. 5. 7 Judt, Postwar, pp. 89-98.

8 See also James T. Patterson, Grand Expectations. The United States, 1945-1974 (Oxford: Oxford

University Press, 1996), pp. 129-133.

5

we are able to pursue today. No matter what anyone of us may

have achieved through personal sacrifice and dedication; no

matter how much effort we may have put into our daily activities,

either at school, university, in our jobs or in some other

professional capacity; no matter how much pride we may take in

the fact that we attained financial independence and wealth

entirely through our own ingenuity and devotion to a life worth

living in short no matter how much we may think that we owe

nothing to anyone else on this planet, the indisputable actuality

nevertheless remains that ultimately we all would be nothing today

if at a particular moment in our own recent past someone would

not have made the deliberate decision to help us out in our

arguably most darkest hour. If we had not been furnished with the

elementary freedoms and opportunities to make all subsequent

developments and accomplishments, all future individual gains

and advantages possible in the first place. In other words, the

conditions to prosper and diversify our options at a better life

were not solely of our making, but ultimately only arose due to a

sizeable measure of help from the outside.

Benevolent assistance of various forms and types enabled us

to move beyond the carnage and destitution surrounding us,

invigorating and encouraging us in our quest for lasting peace,

security and sustainable economic growth. Consequently,

everything we achieved thereafter would never have been feasible

in such an impressive manner if we hadn't been extended the

same kind of external aid which nowadays far too many of us are

about to deny foreign people flocking to our shores and cities in

search of no more than permanent relief from the same atrocities

that once afflicted our own ancestors . A relief which at the time

soon was to become the original source of our enduring safety and

well-being. A relief which allowed European nations to fash ion a

robust system of institutional norms and mechanisms to prevent

an entire continent from being plunged anew into the mutual

slaughtering of its peoples, conditions which Syrians, Iraqis and

other tormented ethnicities still experience on a daily basis. A

relief which back then signalled to war -torn communities

everywhere 'You are not alone in your trials and ordeals', and 'We

6

stand united in our joint struggle to create a better world.' A relief

that single-handedly spelled hope and liberty not only for

contemporaries living through those days, but for generations

thereafter as well. A relief that stood symbolically for the

possibility of finally breaking the vicious cycle of resurgent

conflict and belligerency, substituting it with the ideal of bringing

people, even former enemies, together in the hour of their

greatest hardship and distress. A relief that was before long

vindicated by the peaceful evolution of a continent growing ever

closer together and which, as a result, has since been seen by so

many of the oppressed and battered peoples on this earth as a

genuine sanctuary of freedom and opportunity.

A relief which now must be widened beyond our own

internal borders, reminding us once more that we could not

possibly have attained a position in international affairs where we

are called upon to act as kind-hearted benefactors to broken

individuals if at a much darker time in our own history we had

been left entirely to our own devices, without being given the

assistance we so desperately needed then. Assistance for want of

which none of the things we treasure today, not least of all our

own lives in unparalleled abundance, would have fallen to us in

the first place.

....and Destruction

The necessity to ensure an orderly resettlement of refugees

into nations unravaged by war and human suffering is, however,

not only on ethical grounds the right thing to do. Although for any

righteous and upstanding person with only so much as one tiny

little shred of decency and integrity left within himself or herself

such a moral imperative already ought to be more than enough

incentive for lending these strangers a helping hand, we moreove r

also have good cause for doing so out of a less altruistic

sentiment. For reasons directly relating to our own long -term

safety and security, the relocation of displaced persons is after all

far more in our own national self -interest than most of our elected

representatives presently seem to grasp. In that regard, much has

recently been made in printed media, online blogs and various

7

news outlets of the supposed security dangers involved in allowing

huge numbers of mostly middle-eastern nationals cross our

frontiers each day. 9 In a nutshell, the central argument put forward

against permitting such a vast influx of foreigners usually goes like

this: as it is impossible to perform adequate background checks

on all individuals entering our domestic spheres, local authorities

are ultimately unable to accurately determine the ir political,

ideological or religious affiliations. 10 This, in turn, invariably

increases the risk of Islamic fanatics, if not outright terrorists

acquiring easy and unfettered access to the vulnerable

infrastructures of western societies. Admittedly, there can be no

guarantee that such fears and anxieties might not indeed prove

legitimate in some cases, given that extremists posing as helpless

refugees could always slip through the cracks of criminal

surveillance and/or immigration control. Importantly, however,

the prospect of allegedly facilitating the ent ry of jihadist elements

into Europe as a result of more open and inclusive EU policies

ultimately constitutes a far lesser evil than the developments that

might realistically ensue if we deny dislodged ethnicities

permanent shelter from war and oppression. Put differently, the

threat of terrorist infiltration essentially pales in comparison to

the negative and utterly pernicious ramifications that could follow

in subsequent years if we categorically reject the requests of

asylum seekers and instead compel them to return to failed states

rife with sectarian violence and civil ian turmoil. 11

9 Chris Hughes, "Jihadis enter Europe disguised as refugees fear terrorism experts," Mirror, 21 June 2015.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/jihadis-enter-europe-disguised-refugees-5924643 [accessed 22

September 2015]; Lori Hinnant, Sarah El Deeb and Qassim Abdul-Zahra, "Refugee surge to Europe

raises fears about 'disguised terrorists'," The Denver Post, 16 September 2016.

http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_28820355/refugee-surge-europe-raises-fears-about-

disguised-terrorists [accessed 22 September 2015]. 10

Elizabeth Whitman, "ISIS in Hungary? As Refugees Enter Europe, Officials Fear Islamic State Militants

Could Be Among Them," International Business Times, 9 September 2015.

http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-hungary-refugees-enter-europe-officials-fear-islamic-state-militants-could-

be-2088752 [accessed 22 September 2015]; Jamie Dettmer, "Analysts: IS Poised to Exploit Refugee

Crisis," Voice of America, 18 September 2015. http://www.voanews.com/content/islamic-state-poised-

to-exploit-refugee-crisis/2969641.html [accessed 22 September 2015]. 11

On the causal links between failed states and terrorism see, for example, Robert I. Rodberg, State Failure

and State Weakness in a Time of Terror (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2003); Ken

Menkhaus, "Quasi-States, Nation-Building, and Terrorist Safe Havens," Journal of Conflict Studies,

Vol. 23:2 (Fall 2003), pp. 723; Stewart Patrick, "Failed States and Global Security: Empirical Questions and Policy Dilemmas," International Studies Review, Vol. 9:4 (Winter 2007), pp. 644-662;

8

For amid all the public outrage and inflammatory speeches

heard of late in stark and shameful opposition to plans for

accommodating more refugees, 12 hardly any of those in power truly

appear to comprehend the true nature and dimension of the

terrorist menace facing the international community these days

through the likes of ISIS and Al -Qaeda. Particularly, it is a

serious fallacy to believe that the most acute and worrisome

danger in regard to these j ihadist networks merely concerns the

possibility of their operatives masquerading as victims of war and

persecution plotting to de-stabilize western polities. Instead it lies

in the largely unspoken hazards of providing them with the human

tools and assets needed for carrying out their nefarious schemes

in the first place. 13 This above all else is the one seminal

observation which the West has got to come to grips with if it ever

wants to stand a reasonable chance at decisively disrupting the

activities of these terrorist groupings.

As outcries over taking in additional refugees show,

however, this unfortunately is a matter which political leaders

have yet to not only appreciate, but also incorporate into their

overall approach to the intensifying crisis. Otherwise they would

already long ago have recognized that aiding refugees find

personal safety away from the desolation of their ruined home

countries is not only going to offer them a renewed sense of hope

and opportunity, but will before long also result in definitive

strategic gains for our own long-term security and well -being. Yet

in order to fully perceive and understand this irrefutable reality,

one first has to see contemporary terrorist organizations for what

they actually are. With a view to further illustrate this pivotal

aspect, it may therefore be appropriate to employ an analogy

which arguably serves like no other to accurately describe and

identify the peculiar nature of trans-national terrorist networks.

12

Jess McHugh, "How the EU Migrant Crisis Is Fueling Right-Wing Politicians and Refugee Policies in

Europe," International Business Times, 27 August 2015. http://www.ibtimes.com/how-eu-migrant-

crisis-fueling-right-wing-politicians-refugee-policies-europe-2071326[accessed 21 September 2015];

Michelle Martin, "Rebel Crisis Arouses Fear and Fury on Germany's far-right," Reuters, 17 September

2015. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/17/us-europe-migrants-germany-rightwing-

idUSKCN0RH0KX20150917 [accessed 21 September 2015]. 13

On ISIS's recruitment successes, see, for example, Yonah Alexander and Dean Alexander, The Islamic

State: Combating the Caliphate Without Borders (Lanham, MA: Lexington Books, 2015).

9

Accordingly, ISIS and Al-Qaeda can best be compared to a

lethally infective disease, analogous to a scattering and extremely

resilient cancer that primarily affects those areas of the

international system least immunized to it and which, in

consequence, are most susceptible to transmitting its deadly

pathogen. 14 Granted, the many conflicts presently being fought in

Africa and the Middle East might ultimately all have originated

over very diverse national grievances. But at the same time it is

also true that embedded terrorist groups typically do not have a

distinctively nationalist agenda limited to only those countries. 15

Particularly, they do not initially ally with any one local faction

out of some purely political or ideological affinity with the latter. 16

Rather they engage in those regions for only one single reason:

because violence and civil disunity are by far their most powerful

weapons in pursuit of their ultimate objectives, notably the

overthrow of governing regimes and the incremental disintegration

of an ostensibly western-imposed system of beliefs. 17

To that end, they essentially exploit and prey upon the many

instances of social unrest and sectarian killings which at this

moment western nations appear either incapable or unwilling to

stop through a more active form of intervention of their own. 18 For

even though terrorist insurgencies may occasionally be quashed,

such temporary victories will ultimately hardly suffice to deter

other groups from retaking their place. Not if our principal

adversary is utterly intent on availing itself of any popular

grievance to further disseminate its pervasive ideology, in

particular in such areas where the breakdown of socio -economic

activities and basic governmental services has left people

especially vulnerable to its malicious influences . Consequently, it

is under such dreadful conditions that extremists frequently

14

Corine Hegland, "Global Jihad," National Interest, Vol. 36:19 (2004), pp. 1396-1402; J. Majerus, The

Threat of Al-Qaeda after Osama Bin Laden (Mnchen: Grin Verlag, 2013), pp. 8-9. 15

Oliver Roy, Secularism Confronts Islam (in German) (Mnchen: Siedler Verlag 2008), p. 162. 16

Robert Pape, Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Bombing (New York: Random House, 2005),

p. 104. 17

Walter Lacqueur, No End to War: Terrorism in the Twenty-first Century (in German) (Berlin: Ullstein

2004), pp. 80-84. 18

"1000-strong Syrian rebel brigade defects to Islamic State," RT News, 11 July 2014.

http://www.rt.com/news/171952-thousand-strong-defect-islamic-state/ [accessed 21 September 2015];

Roy, Secularism Confronts Islam, pp. 162-63.

10

acquire their most valuable instruments for committing additional

acts of terror. 19 These instruments handed over to terrorist

organizations simultaneously consist of the conflict -ridden

environments in which they are permitted to fester in the first

place, and of the many local inhabitants which for various reasons,

ranging from outright fear and coercion to personal alienation

and/or professional opportunism, 20 ultimately find themselves

attracted to them. 21 Hence it is imperative that western states help

fragile governmental structures attain such levels of social justice

and institutional stability as will be increasingly inimical to

terrorist activities. 22 Such undertakings must preeminently

concentrate on creating and improving political as well as

economic conditions that will not only promote national

reconciliation and eventually restore civil harmony, but which

will, moreover, also provide regional governments with a

legitimatized state apparatus for conducting anti-terrorism

campaigns of their own. 23

If, however, the current situation in those countries does not

allow for a practicable implementation of such measures in the

foreseeable future, the international community must resort all

the more strongly and consistently on other suitable methods for

denying ISIS and Al-Qaeda territorial gains. While it is true that

many individuals ultimately do not join these groupings for

reasons of material poverty or a lack of personal prospects alone, 24

it is all the same worth noting that desperate or disenfranchised

citizens in war-torn countries frequently represent the most

19

Brian Michael Jenkins, "The Dynamics of Syria's Civil War," RAND Corporation (Santa Monica, CA:

RAND Corporation, 2014), p. 10.

http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/perspectives/PE100/PE115/RAND_PE115.pdf [accessed 22

September 2015]. 20

Samia Nakhoul, "Saddam's former army is secret of Baghdadi's success," Reuters, 16 June 2015.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/16/us-mideast-crisis-baghdadi-insight-

idUSKBN0OW1VN20150616 [accessed 21 September 2015]. 21

Fawaz A. Gerges, "ISIS and the Third Wave of Jihadism," in: Readings in American Foreign Policy:

Problems and Responses, edited by Glenn P. Hastedt (Lanham, MA: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015), pp.

110-112. 22

Hardin Lang, Peter Juul, and Mokhtar Awad, "Recalibrating the Anti-ISIS Strategy. The Need for a More

Coherent Political Strategy," Center for American Progress (Washington: Center for American Progress,

2015), p. 3, 14. https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ISIS-StrategyUpdate-

FINAL.pdf [accessed 22 September 2015]. 23

Andrew J. Tabler, "Syria's Collapse. And How Washington Can Stop It," Foreign Affairs, Vol. 92:4

(July/August 2013), pp. 99-100. Majerus, The Threat of Al-Qaeda, p. 10. 24

Pape, Dying to Win, p. 200.

11

precious and destructive commodity utilized by j ihadist leaders for

putting their despicable intentions into action. 25 Mitigating the

sorrows and frustrations of local populations by taking away the

incentives for conspiring with extremists will certainly not in and

of itself result in the wholesale dismantling of their networks. But

such an approach may nevertheless significantly contribute

towards blunting the very tools they routinely misuse for their own

ends, namely the tactics of generating as much anarchy and chaos

in these regions as may ultimately be required to control ever

more territory, thereby steadily increasing the necessity for

western democracies to eventually confront them directlyat the

latest once their own interests are concerned. 26 In sum, the all but

inextricable entrapment of local inhabitants into a perpetual cycle

of civil strife and national destabilization is thus precisely what

Islamic terrorism feeds on in the first place. 27

This is why it is of the utmost importance to forestall the

advent or aggravation of any such adverse situation from the

outset, i.e. before popular ills and resentment turn these countries

into enemy strongholds from where the terrorist infestation could

spill over to adjacent areas and, in so doing, evolve into a threat

to cross-regional security as well. 28 It is because of this very real

danger that western nations must strive to assist oppressed

communities build a more stable and benign life for themselves, if

not in their own country, then at least by enabling them to escape

the mayhem and despair that awaits them there. For if it is indeed

primarily the killing of innocent Muslims rather than deep -seated

religious convictions which in most instances accounts for why

disgruntled and upset individuals may choose to join ranks with

extremist organizations, 29 then our refusal to grant war-racked

25

Howard Gambrill Clark, "Defeating ISIS - Go Local," The American Interest, Vol. 10:6 ((July/August

2015), pp. 28-29. http://www.the-american-interest.com/2015/06/10/go-local/ [accessed 21 September

2015]; Roy (2008), pp. 172-73; Kareem Shaheen, "Food aid cuts 'making refugees targets for ISIS

recruitment'," The Guardian, 13 August 2015. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/13/food-

aid-cuts-making-refugees-targets-for-isis-recruitment [accessed 22 September 2015]. 26

Bruce Riedel, "Al-Qaeda Strikes Back," Foreign Affairs, Vol. 86:3 (May/June 2007), pp. 24-25; Philip H.

Gordon, "Can the War on Terror Be Won? How to Fight the Right War?," Foreign Affairs, Vol. 86:6

(November/December 2007), p. 57; Clark, "Defeating ISIS," p. 26. 27

Pape, Dying to Win, p. 103. 28

Jenkins, "The Dynamics of Syria's Civil War," p. 19. 29

Marc Sageman, "A Strategy for Fighting International Islamist Terrorists," Annals of the American

Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 618 (July 2008), pp. 223-231; Clark, "Defeating ISIS," p.

12

refugees a life in safety and security will certainly not allay such

grievances. By admitting them into societies which have for a long

time now been spared such awful and appalling conditions,

however, we may on the other hand not only help them protect

their own lives, but can moreover also guard ourselves against the

spectre of otherwise inevitably larger and more extensive terrorist

networks.

It is on these grounds that jihadist extremism consequently

needs to be contained along the lines of a global ideological

front. 30 However, that battle ultimately cannot be won through a

show of sheer military might alone, but essentially only by a

vigorous desire to purge domestic societies of all those aspects

and practices that might play directly into the hands of Islamic

fanatics. For no matter how effective tighter immigration controls

may be, such measures will never be able to strike at the

underlying roots of religious fundamentalism. That is why western

democracies must first and foremost seek to render unattractive

the allure and anticipated gains that any one distraught person

might associate with radical Islam, if only so as to withhold from

its followers the individual willingness and social surroundings

which frequently form their most potent weapon for hurting other

nations. 31 In particular, elected officials must more persistently

attempt to undercut jihadist 's ' " ideological legacies" , i.e. their

ability to persuade men and women to engage in terrorist activities

of their own. 32 This, however, can only be accomplished by

discrediting the appeal and constitutive tenets of their aggressive

ideological mission. 33 To that end, it is crucial to first identify

where exactly the hatred and discontent of some Muslims vis--vis

western civilization derive from and how this may, in turn, affect

the radicalization and recruitment processes of terrorist

organizations.

29.

30 Reid Sawyer and Michael Foster, "The Resurgent and Persistent Threat of Al Qaeda," Annals of the

American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 618 (July 2008), pp. 197-211. 31

Sageman, "A Strategy for Fighting International Islamist Terrorists," pp. 223-231. 32

Hady Amr and P.W. Singer, "To Win the 'War on Terror,' We Must First Win the 'War of Ideas': Here's

How," Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 618 (July 2008), pp. 212-

222. 33

Gordon, "Can the War on Terror Be Won?," p. 60; p.65.

13

In that context, it is a common misconception to attribute

participation in terrorist schemes chiefly to economic poverty. As

numerous scholars have demonstrated, 34 the decision to join

terrorist networks runs significantly deeper than worries about

unemployment and financial distress. 35 For many it is ultimately

far less a question about wealth than it is about values, tolerance

and an unrequited sense of belonging. True, some Muslims may

never accept western ways no matter how sensitive our societies

may be of their religious beliefs. 36 But does this really mean that ,

by implication, Islam and western democracy are really two

incompatible and diametrically opposed visions of societal

organization? That since Muslims are supposedly so utterly

unhappy with how matters are being handled by the West, they

will never embrace its ideational framework , thus rendering their

integration a vain and futile endeavour to begin with? Yet for

reasons pertaining to both morality and our own national interest,

there cannot possibly exist any viable alternative other than their

eventual integration into the wider international community. For if

on account of the dire repercussions outlined further above we

draw up even sharper lines between Islam and the West , we after

all run the serious risk of endangering our own long-term security

far more severely than most of us presently seem to realize.

Therefore it is vital to prevent a further alienation of

Muslims by pandering to the toxic notion of their alleged non-

integrability, notably as such a misguided course of action will

only further abet the attempts of radicals to win over impressible

individuals to their infamous cause. 37 Importantly, however, a self-

critical re-examination of Europe's approach to not only the

ongoing refugee crisis, but to Islam in general is not meant to call

into question the defining standards and ideals of its political

organization and/or cultural traditions, not least since our values

routinely form a major source of hope and attraction for many

strangers to begin with. Rather, the basic point to be made here is

for the West to more consistently honour and live up to them with

34

Lacqueur, No End to War, pp. 21-27; Roy, Secularism Confronts Islam, pp. 165-66. 35

Pape, Dying to Win, p. 200. 36

Lacqueur, No End to War, p. 102. 37

Roy, Secularism Confronts Islam, pp. 163-65.

14

regard to foreign minorities as well. For very often, Muslims do

not take issue with western norms per se, but rather with how we

repeatedly fail to do them justice by declining to extend them to

non-European communities too. Specifically, how can their

integration ever be advanced if every once and again Muslims are

given clear evidence of their religion's perceived inferiority, for

example in relation to popular opposition over the construction of

minarets in Switzerland 38 or a mosque near Ground Zero in New

York City? 39 Or, for that matter, when Europe turns down the

requests of hundreds of thousands of them for shelter and relief

in one of the worst refugee tragedies the world has seen in a long

time? Instead, Muslims everywhere need to be presented with

tangible proof that they are being offered the same tolerance and

respect we grant to other faiths, that rather than excluding them

from the safety and prosperity of our societies we let them share

in the same benefits and freedoms we all cherish so much,

especially if as at this very instant their only other option consists

of continued exposure to endless suffering and brutality.

The execution of such a less self -centered and narrow-

minded policy will certainly not keep every single Muslim from

flirting with j ihadist ideology. However, it will invariably help to

create a more pronounced sense of belonging in many Muslim

communities. Failure to do so will only further reinforce the

image of western aversion to Islamic culture, thus supplying

extremist organizations with added legitimacy for their dangerous

doctrines. This is why on this critical ideological front the war on

terrorism is accordingly just as much about saving men and

women from becoming active terrorists than it is about afterwards

arresting them. 40 Because in the end, one single misled person may

after all be all there is between our long-term security and the

next assault on innocent civilians. Until we all come to terms with

this indisputable reality, terrorist networks may ultimately never

38

N. Cumming-Bruce, S. Erlanger, "Swiss Ban Building of Minarets on Mosques," The New York Times, 30

November 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/world/europe/30swiss.html [accessed 26

November 2012]. 39

P. Vitello, "Islamic Center Exposes Mixed Feelings Locally," The New York Times, 20 August 2010.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/20/nyregion/20muslims.html?pagewanted=all [accessed 26

November 2012]. 40

Pape, Dying to Win, pp. 238-39.

15

be destroyed in their entirety, not when we miss the will and

resolution to tackle them at the very heart of their structural and

ideological foundations.

Consequently , policy-makers need to recognize that

terrorism is a threat of global proportions that can only be

overcome by taking it apart at the seams. That an enemy who

operates concurrently on multiple fronts can, like militant

communism, not be defeated on the battlefield alone, 41 but only

through mellowing out from the inside. 42 And that, as a result, any

anti-terrorism measures must above all be aimed at depriving

extremists of the human capital and sectarian environments they

depend upon for conducting their operations in the first place. 43 In

all of this, the necessity to grant the nationals of devastated

countries the right to an agreeable and dignified life in freedom

and security, either at home or abroad, is key to containing the

threat of international terrorism, given that a more peaceful and

less troubled existence than many of them presently have to bear

might ultimately prohibit a potential collusion with radical groups

right from the very beginning.

As far as Islamic terrorism is concerned, the world is thus

increasingly being presented with a seminal choice. Either we

allow groupings such as ISIS to go on exploiting the fears and

dissatisfaction of local populations, assisting them to grow nearly

unchecked in the process. Possibly to a point where airstrikes, the

flying of reconnaissance missions and/or the support of rebel

coalitions will no longer suffice to stymie its inexorable spread

over ever larger swathes of territory. Or, alternatively, we must

think of ways and means to actively compromise its recruitment

drives, preventing it from assimilating a mounting host of loyal

foot soldiers into its ranks. If, in that context, we might therefore

through a simple gesture of good-will and charity towards

incoming refugees at the same time conduce to efforts directed at

denying ISIS the one tool it so strongly relies upon, then omission

to act accordingly would ultimately not only attest to o ur moral

41

Gordon, "Can the War on Terror Be Won?," p. 55; pp. 59-60. 42

George Kennan, "The Sources of Soviet Conduct," Foreign Affairs, Vol. 25:4 (July/August 1947), p. 582. 43

Gordon, "Can the War on Terror Be Won?," p. 54; pp. 58-59.

16

depravity, but would most definitely also result in further strategic

disadvantages for the entire international community, above all in

terms of regional stability and security in the Middle East.

In the final analysis, the struggle against ISIS and Al-Qaeda

is indeed a war that has to be contested simultaneously on several

interrelated fronts. To the extent that the current refugee crisis is

inextricably tied to that conflict, it would of course be preferable

to resolve that issue at its source, notably through durably

pacifying war-ridden countries and thus stemming the surge of

displaced persons right from the start . Yet failing a coordinated

military intervention or increased diplomatic pressure on ruling

regimes to accomplish that objective any time soon, the

international community ultimately is left with no other choice but

to draw on alternative, if arguably less -than-perfect approaches for

degrading these terrorist networks. One possible avenue already

explored by the United States is to t rain, equip and assist

moderate rebel forces on the ground. Another equally important

one is, as US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter recently noted,

to stanch "the flow of foreign fighters, looking out for j ihadi

recruits around the world." 44 In addition to these steps, however,

ISIS must also be hindered from harvesting more obedient and

submissive followers from battle -scarred war zones. Some of these

operatives may indeed join it for purely ideological reasons, yet

far too many others still do so out of genuine desperation and

frustration. If these young men, women and, increasingly, small

children, 45 who are not always driven to extremism of their own

desire, but often by circumstance alone, were instead offered

decidedly more favourable prospects in European societies than

those awaiting them in their native countries, than such a mutually

beneficial course of action might altogether stand far better

chances of bolstering Europe's long-term security as well. For

rather than thinking of every admitted Muslim refugee as a

potentially radical fundamentalist, consider the following much

more disturbing scenario: each non-admitted refugee might upon

44

'The Scholar As Secretary. A Conversation with Ashton Carter', Foreign Affairs, Vol. 94:5 (Sep/Oct

2015], p. 77. 45

Kate Brannan, "Children of the Caliphate," Foreign Policy, 24 October 2014.

http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/10/24/children-of-the-caliphate/ [accessed 21 September 2015].

17

return to his or her death-laden homeland ultimately be exposed

even more easily to such harmful teachings. Put differently, every

refugee we do not let in might in the worst case be one more

terrorist we will have to take out on another day. After all, the

freedom, protection and opportunities which refugees could

reasonably expect to obtain for themselves in European nations

might in the end go a long way towards shielding deeply conflicted

youths from sympathizing with j ihadist influences in countries

where these sacred conditions are, as we all know, still entirely

lacking at this very moment.

The Legacies of History

Once again we are creating our own demons, and no one

really seems to care about it until it is too late. For in the end, i t

is always the same old story of failure to act before things go

wrong instead of having to react to them afterwards, of allowing

events to simply run their course and then being forced to rectify

them thereafter. Thus when one day we find that individuals

responsible for the next major attack in some western society were

radicalized by Islamic extremists after their coerced repatriation

to a country in the throes of intra-state warfare, material

destitution and utter hopelessness, people will once again ask

themselves these pivotal questions: How could this happen? Why

didn't we see it coming? Couldn't we somehow have prevented it?

And, crucially, who screwed up this time and who is to be held

accountable? And the answer to the latter question will once more

be fairly straightforward: We are too.

Although none of us may bear any direct responsibility for

the hideous actions perpetrated by terrorists against innocent

human beings, that certainty alone nonetheless doesn't absolve us

from sharing at least part of the blame, not if we are guilty of a

moral complicity for providing Islamic fanatics with men and

women who not that long ago did not harbour any resentment

whatsoever against western nations but who, quite to the contrary,

merely wished for a small measure of sympathy and compassion to

their terrible plight and agony. Yet by spurning their pleas for

humanity, we drove them right back into the arms of those bent

18

on destroying us, a iding them to turn children and helpless

individuals into instruments of war by exploiting their legitimate

frustration and disappointment at being refused safety and

security in countries which once they themselves regarded as

symbols of hope and freedom but which, hardened and

embittered by the indifference and hostility encountered there,

they eventually came to despise just as much as those who

recruited them out of a far more pervasive motivation.

Then it will become apparent that, once again, we have

obviously learned nothing from past experiences, that neither did

we take to heart the lessons of history, nor recognized and

understood the writings on the wall when we still had the chance

to change things for the better. That just as in Vietnam, there was

done too little, too late to win over the hearts and minds of local

communities, preventing them from seeing us as the principal

enemy to their established way of life rather than the nat ional

liberators which, as forty years later in Iraq, we purported to be. 46

That as the example of Afghanistan in the 1980s and the

subsequent entrenchment of Al -Qaeda in that country illustrates,

it is not enough to merely contest one's opponent with firepower,

or to furnish indigenous resistance movements with the weapons

and machinery required for holding out against a superior

enemy. 47 When we fail to realize that spending billions of dollars

on the secret funding of native combatants may ultimately turn

into a nightmare for later generations if at the same time we

cannot bring ourselves to invest in institutional, educational and

medical facilities for enabling governments to secure the peace in

the years thereafter. 48 When through our own negligence to he lp

war-battered populations build a safer and more stable future we

invite less well -disposed elements to fill the political void in those

nations, thus involuntarily contributing to the formation of

46

Ross Coffey, "Revisiting CORDS: The Need for Unity of Effort to Secure Victory in Iraq," Military

Review, (March/April 2006), pp. 24-34; W. Scott Thompson and Donaldson D. Frizzell, The Lessons of

Vietnam (Crane, Russak & C0.: New York, 1977), p. 213. 47

Peter L. Bergen, Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama Bin Laden (New York: The Free Press,

2001), pp. 63-75. 48

Ahmed Rashid, Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil, and Fundamentalism in Central Asia (New Haven: Yale

University Press, 2000), pp. 175176; Richard Outzen, "The Flawed Strategic Debate on Syria," INSS CSR Strategic Forum No. 285 (Washington D.C.: Institute for National Strategic Studies, 2014), p. 7.

http://inss.dodlive.mil/files/2014/04/SF-285.pdf [accessed 26 May 2014].

19

antagonistic forces which we will then one day have to grapple

with ourselves. 49

When instead we would do well to remember that welcoming

those in need of our unmitigated support will invariably bear

richer fruits than ignoring their pain and sorrows. That both

Europe and the United States would be we ll advised to revisit

their own histories in order to discern how in the bleak and

barren aftermath of World War II, it was a relief effort of an

unparalled order that not only managed to put entire nation -states

back on their feet, but which likewise produced important

geostrategic benefits as well. Above all, mass resettlement and

economic rehabilitation were paramount in those days to

forestalling the empowerment of communist parties throughout

southern and western Europe. Specifically, the latter were never

given ample enough scope to capitalize on the misery and

discontent of civilian populations over a prolonged period of

time, thus precluding them from positioning their ideology and

organizational forms as the only alternative to the alleged

impotence of governing authorities and the popular

disenchantment threatening to engulf an entire continent at the

time. 50 As millions of people who had just survived first -hand the

woes and upheavals of inter -human conflict were thus not left to

fend completely for themselves, the assistance which they received

ultimately helped to not only renew their faith in democratic

governance, but was also instrumental in reducing the over-all

influence of communist movements in western Europe. 51

Accordingly, this episode ought to serve as an illuminating

precedent for how the most expedient method for weakening one's

enemies does altogether not only reside with their eventual

military decimation, but with likewise discrediting the popular

allure of their underlying ideology. For although wars may indeed

49

George Crile, Charlie Wilson's War (New York: Grove Press, 2003), pp. 517-524; Seth G. Jones, In the

Graveyard of Empires (New York: Norton, 2009), p. 51. 50

Judt, Postwar, pp. 88-89; Patterson, Grand Expectations, pp. 130-131. 51

Michael Kort, The Columbia Gide to the Cold War (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998), p. 28;

William I. Hitchcock, "The Marshall Plan and the Creation of the West," in: The Cambridge History of

the Cold War Volume I: Origins, edited by Melvyn P. Leffler and Odd Arne Westad (Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press, 2010), p. 170.

20

be won on the battlefield, peace most often is lost in their

immediate aftermath. Thus i f ever we intend to satisfy high -

minded aspirations at codifying the concept of a "Responsibility to

Protect" into international lawa principle which western

democracies in particular have been keen to endorsethan such a

norm must ultimately also extend to people seeking refuge and

shelter not only within but also outside the boundaries of their

home state. 52 Hence it is not only for moral and historical reasons,

but also in regard to strategic and self -serving interests that we

must offer every person marred by the atrocities of modern

warfare the opportunity to pursue a life in peace and security, free

from tyranny, deprivation and perennial fright. In other words,

rather than perpetuating a culture of fear, we must finally create

and advance a culture of hope and mercy instead.

Even if we may profoundly dread the prospect of cultural

dilution or the corrosion of our western traditions, the inherent

dangers to our own long-term safety and well-being as a result of

our continued humanitarian inaction might ultimately far outweigh

any such artificially inflated concerns. Rarely therefore did the

preamble to UNESCO's founding charter rang more true than in

the current situation: "Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is

in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be

constructed." 53 On that note, accepting refugees into our lives

consequently does not endanger our societies in any meaningful

way. Instead it will but help to strengthen and preserve our own

peace as well.

52

On the United Nations' concept of a "Responsibility to Protect", see "The Responsibility to Protect,"

Report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (New York: ICISS,

December 2001). http://responsibilitytoprotect.org/ICISS%20Report.pdf [accessed 21 May 2014];

"United Nations World Summit Outcome Document 2005," United Nations (New York: United Nations,

2005). http://www.who.int/hiv/universalaccess2010/worldsummit.pdf [accessed 23 May 2014]; Ban Ki-

Moon, "Implementing the Responsibility to Protect (A/63/677)," United Nations (New York: United

Nations, 2009). http://www.unrol.org/files/SG_reportA_63_677_en.pdf [accessed 22 May 2014].

For critical academic analyses, see Alex J. Bellamy, Responsibility to Protect (Cambridge: Polity Press,

2009), pp. 35-65; Cristina G. Badescu, Humanitarian Intervention and the Responsibility to Protect:

Security and Human Rights (New York: Taylor and Francis e-library, 2010); Philip Cunliffe (ed.),

Critical Perspectives on the Responsibility to Protect: Interrogating Theory and Practice (New York:

Taylor and Francis e-Library, 2011); aban Karda, "Humanitarian Intervention as a Responsibility to Protect: An International Society Approach," A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace, Vol. 2:1 (January 2013), pp. 21-38.

53 Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 16 November 1945,

London, United Kingdom. http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-

URL_ID=15244&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html [accessed 19 September 2015].

21

A Promise of Mercy

That is why we all must search our hearts and examine our

minds, rediscovering once more that a "true man does not only

stand up for himself ," but, as William McKenzie King remarked,

"he stands up for those do not have the ability to." 54 That is why we

must embrace with every fibre of our being Mahatma Gandhi's

wisdom that in the end "the human voice can never reach the

distance that is covered by the still small voice of conscience." 55

That is why people of all creeds and denominations must render

justice to the divine commandments, praised and glorified

throughout all religions, of charity, humility, compassion and

unconditional brotherly love. That is why every virtuous Christian

dutifully attending mass each week must reflect upon how he or

she could ever possibly be doing the will of a merciful G od who

through his own beloved son Jesus Christ instructed us to love one

another as ourselves. If instead we might not actually be in danger

of sanctimony and hypocrisy when ultimately we do not practice

and observe the commands we were taught, precepts which many

of us so fervently and piously profess to believe in. When we

knowingly disobey time and time again the teachings of Jesus

himself, notably when instead of living out one of Christianity's

most central and foundational passages that we find in Matthew

25:31-46,56 we essentially fail to comply with the principl es laid out

therein in our daily dealings and activities. When with special

relevance to the current refugee exodus and our refusal to take in

more strangers we accordingly do not heed Jesus' admonition that

"[....] whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you

did not do for me either". 57 When we thus not only neglect to

follow through with these injunctions ourselves, but, what's more,

when we also become party to the same inequities and

transgressions which some of us never cease to rebuke others for.

When, in short, we consciously choose not to adhere to the

reminder issued by the late Pope Jean Paul II. that "the person

54

Quote featured on: http://www.qotd.org/quotes/Mackenzie.King [accessed 22 September 2015]. 55

Mahatma Gandhi, The Wit and Wisdom of Mahatma Gandhi (New Delhi: New Book Society of India,

1960), p. 60. 56

Mt. 25:31-46 (New International Version) 57

Mt. 25:45 (New International Version)

22

who wants to be with Christ must take on his shoulders the whole

burden of morality, which will be the inst rument of his

elevation." 58

That is why each personbeliever and non-believermust do

everything in their power to not only uphold, but also measure up

to the values and ideals which we all prize and cherish so much

and which, lest we forget, continue to form the very cornerstone

of the incredible progress western civilization has made until this

day. That is why now can and must no longer be the time for

empty rhetoric. If we really are the progressive and open -minded

communities we claim to be in front of the whole world, then now

more than ever we must allow empathy and tolerance to blaze

forth as shining justifications of our own humanity. Because in the

end, our culture will be vindicated by it deeds, and not just by

what it superficially stands for.

This, above all else, is why state authorities must at long last

match the worthy example set forth by thousands of their own

citizens who selflessly volunteered to give whatever assistance they

could to the multitudes of refugees already relocated to their

respective regions. In particular, they must strive to equal the

efforts of the many local individuals who offered a warm and

heartfelt welcome to these strangers as they first arrived in their

communities and who, in many cases, likewise donated to the

numerous charity associations presently providing displaced

persons with whatever help and support their strained and limited

capacities can spare. This is why political representatives must

now lead the way in restoring safety and well -being to all those

deeply shaken and informed by both the physical and emotional

wounds of incessant warfare in their native countries.

This is why more states must seek to emulate the relief

measures adopted and put in place by Germany, of all nations, a

modern republic which in the past century was after all itself the

origin of so much pain and humiliation to so many peoples and

ethnicities, but which after having experienced first -hand the

58

Father Jerome Vereb (ed.), A Year with Jean Paul II. Daily Meditations from His Writings and Prayers

(New York: HarperCollins, 2005), p. 25.

23

positive benefits of international assistance, nowadays has evolved

for so many tormented persons into a veritable beacon of hope ,

opportunity and trust into the goodness of others. This is why in

the years to come history will pass a kinder and more favourable

judgement on senior state leaders such as Angela Merkel and

Stefan Lfven, the sitting Prime Minister of Sweden. 59 Because at

the hour of greatest need they not merely did what was politically

convenient for themselves, but in addition to exhibiting true

political statesmanship, they also displayed actual moral

leadership. This is why the powers that be in all countries need to

remember the words spoken only a little over two years ago by US

President Barack Obama that instead of losing sight of "the sweep

of history" by turning inwards and thinking of our own pursuits,

we must reaffirm the principle that "complacency is never the

character of great nations." 60 In that speech, Obama touched upon

many of the contemporary issues still demanding to be addressed

in greater detail, yet he above all emphasized the fact "that if we

ignore the instability and intolerance that fuels extremism, our

own freedom will eventually be in danger." 61 This most definitely is

an assessment that cannot be stressed highly enough and which,

therefore, must without fail become a firm and integral part of any

actions contemplated in response to this deplorable refugee

tragedy.

For how many times already had the world to watch and

endure the fulfilment of Edmund Burke's exhortation that all too

often "the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men

to do nothing." 62 No one person of stature and with at least some

rudimentary appreciation of historical cycles and events could

59

Adam Lebor, "Angela Merkel: Europe's Conscience on the Refugee Crisis," Newsweek, 18 September

2015, pp. 12-15; Sven Nordenstam, "Thousands of Swedes rally in support of refugees," Reuters, 6

September 2015. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/06/us-europe-migrants-sweden-

idUSKCN0R60UW20150906 [accessed 21 September 2015]; Oliver Gee, "Swedish PM: 'My Europe

takes in refugees'," The Local, 6 September 2015. http://www.thelocal.se/20150906/thousands-to-rally-

for-refugees-in-stockholm [accessed 21 September 2015]. 60

Barack Obama, "Remarks by President Obama at the Brandenburg Gate," (speech given at the

Brandenburg Gate, Pariser Platz, Berlin, Germany, 19 June 2013).

http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html [accessed 18 September 2015]. 61

Ibid. 62

Although scholars still debate the exact origin of this widely used quotation, it is generally attributed to

Irish philosopher Edmund Burke (1729-1797). See "The Only Thing Necessary for the Triumph of Evil

is that Good Men do Nothing," The Quote Investigator,

http://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/12/04/good-men-do/ [accessed 18 September 2015].

24

seriously dispute the time-proven validity of this axiom. Yet once

again we seem incapable of comprehending the underly ing

suppositions of this statement. Thus rather than to simply

discount the many historical precedents clearly and un mistakeably

bearing out this prudent and timeless observation, we should all

have it serve as a supreme guiding principle in international affairs

for anticipating the rise of any forces that could, before long,

develop into a substantial threat to our own safety and security as

well. Because if there is one incontestable certainty in world

politics, it is ultimately the fact that at one point or another,

history will strike back at uswith a vengeance.

Conclusion

In the absence of light, darkness prevails. 63 Yet for those

coming up on the side of light, it may at times be difficult to

perceive that "darkness" for what it exactly is. For the millions of

people presently fleeing the carnage in their homelands, that

darkness is nothing short of utter misery and despair, endless

shelling and human slaughtering, unabated poverty and

destitution, and, above all, crippling fear and the permanent

absence of hope. Both as individuals and as nations we may think

ourselves entitled not to care about this cruel and unfair state of

affairs, that all things considered the problems of refugees and

uprooted families are of no immediate concern to us and that,

consequently, it does not fall within our remit to solve them. But

if we willingly choose to do so, we all must know and live with the

possibility that rather sooner than later that very same darkness

may well come back to haunt us one day. If not ourselves, than

arguably even more so our children. This is why we all ought to

pay close attention to the saying immortalized by Dr. Martin

Luther King Jr. that, ultimately, "darkness cannot drive out

darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only

love can do that. " 64 Thus if by a comparatively small show of

benevolence and support extended to the oppressed and

unfortunate asking at this very moment for shelter and security in

63

A variation of a well-known Buddhist saying. 64

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Where do we go from here: Chaos or Community? (Boston: Beacon Press,

2010), p. 65.

25

our societies we can ignite the spark that might eventually shine

just as bright a light for them as it once did for us, then I believe

we all should do our best to no longer keep that light in the dark.

For although in the end our ignorance and unawareness may be

forgiven us by future generations, our apathy and indifference

most certainly will not.

Bibliography

"1000-strong Syrian rebel brigade defects to Islamic State," RT News, 11 July 2014. http://www.rt.com/news/171952-thousand-strong-defect-islamic-state/ [accessed 21 September 2015].

"The Responsibility to Protect," Report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (New York: ICISS, December 2001). http://responsibilitytoprotect.org/ICISS%20Report.pdf [accessed 21 May 2014].

"The Scholar As Secretary. A Conversation with Ashton Carter," Foreign Affairs, Vol. 94:5 (Sep/Oct 2015), pp. 72-78.

Alexander, Yonah and Alexander, Dean, The Islamic State: Combating the Caliphate Without Borders (Lanham, MA: Lexington Books, 2015).

Amr, Hady and Singer, P.W., "To Win the 'War on Terror,' We Must First Win the 'War of Ideas': Here's How," Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 618 (July 2008), pp. 212-222.

Armstrong-Reid, Susan E. and Murray, David, Armies of Peace: Canada and the UNRRA Years (Toronto: Toronto University Press, 2008).

Badescu, Cristina G., Humanitarian Intervention and the Responsibility to Protect: Security and Human Rights (New York: Taylor and Francis e-library, 2010).

Bellamy, Alex J., Responsibility to Protect (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2009). Bergen, Peter L., Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama Bin Laden (New York: The

Free Press, 2001). Brannan, Kate, "Children of the Caliphate," Foreign Policy, 24 October 2014.

http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/10/24/children-of-the-caliphate/ [accessed 21 September 2015].

Clark, Howard Gambrill, "Defeating ISIS - Go Local," The American Interest, Vol. 10:6 ((July/August 2015), pp. 24-31. http://www.the-american-interest.com/2015/06/10/go-local/ [accessed 21 September 2015].

Coffey, Ross, "Revisiting CORDS: The Need for Unity of Effort to Secure Victory in Iraq," Military Review (March/April 2006), pp. 24-34.

Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 16 November 1945, London, United Kingdom. http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=15244&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html [accessed 19 September 2015].

Crile, George, Charlie Wilson's War (New York: Grove Press, 2003). Cumming-Bruce, N. and Erlanger, S., "Swiss Ban Building of Minarets on Mosques," The

New York Times, 30 November 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/world/europe/30swiss.html [accessed 26 November 2012].

Cunliffe, Philip (ed.), Critical Perspectives on the Responsibility to Protect: Interrogating Theory and

26

Practice (New York: Taylor and Francis e-Library, 2011). Dettmer, Jamie, "Analysts: IS Poised to Exploit Refugee Crisis," Voice of America, 18

September 2015. http://www.voanews.com/content/islamic-state-poised-to-exploit-refugee-crisis/2969641.html [accessed 22 September 2015].

Gandhi, Mahatma, The Wit and Wisdom of Mahatma Gandhi (New Delhi: New Book Society of India, 1960).

Gee, Oliver, "Swedish PM: 'My Europe takes in refugees'," The Local, 6 September 2015. http://www.thelocal.se/20150906/thousands-to-rally-for-refugees-in-stockholm [accessed 21 September 2015].

Gerges, Fawaz A., "ISIS and the Third Wave of Jihadism," in: Readings in American Foreign Policy: Problems and Responses, edited by Hastedt, Glenn P. (Lanham, MA: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015), pp. 110-119.

Gordon, Philip H., "Can the War on Terror Be Won? How to Fight the Right War?," Foreign Affairs, Vol. 86:6 (November/December 2007), pp. 53-66.

Hegland, Corine, "Global Jihad," National Interest, Vol. 36:19 (2004), pp. 1396-1402. Hinnant, Lori; El Deeb, Sarah; and Abdul-Zahra, Qassim, "Refugee surge to Europe raises

fears about 'disguised terrorists'," The Denver Post, 16 September 2016. http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_28820355/refugee-surge-europe-raises-fears-about-disguised-terrorists [accessed 22 September 2015].

Hitchcock, William I., "The Marshall Plan and the Creation of the West," in: The Cambridge History of the Cold War Volume I: Origins, edited by Leffler, Melvyn P. and Westad, Odd Arne (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), pp. 154-174.

Hogan, Michael J., The Marshall Plan: America, Britain and the Reconstruction of Western Europe, 1947-1952 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987).

Hughes, Chris, "Jihadis enter Europe disguised as refugees fear terrorism experts," Mirror, 21 June 2015. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/jihadis-enter-europe-disguised-refugees-5924643 [accessed 22 September 2015].

Jenkins, Brian Michael, "The Dynamics of Syria's Civil War," RAND Corporation (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2014). http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/perspectives/PE100/PE115/RAND_PE115.pdf [accessed 22 September 2015].

Jones, Seth G., In the Graveyard of Empires (New York: Norton, 2009). Judt, Tony, Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 (London: The Penguin Press, 2005). Karda, aban, "Humanitarian Intervention as a Responsibility to Protect: An International

Society Approach," A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace, Vol. 2:1 (January 2013), pp. 21-38. Kennan, George, "The Sources of Soviet Conduct," Foreign Affairs, Vol. 25:4 (July/August

1947), pp. 566-582. Ki-Moon, Ban, "Implementing the Responsibility to Protect (A/63/677)," United Nations

(New York: United Nations, 2009). http://www.unrol.org/files/SG_reportA_63_677_en.pdf [accessed 22 May 2014].

King, Dr. Martin Luther Jr., Where do we go from here: Chaos or Community? (Boston: Beacon Press, 2010).

Kort, Michael, The Columbia Gide to the Cold War (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998).

Lacqueur, Walter, No End to War: Terrorism in the Twenty-first Century (in German) (Berlin: Ullstein 2004).

Lang, Hardin; Juul, Peter; and Awad, Mokhtar, "Recalibrating the Anti-ISIS Strategy. The Need for a More Coherent Political Strategy," Center for American Progress (Washington: Center for American Progress, 2015). https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ISIS-StrategyUpdate-FINAL.pdf [accessed 22 September 2015].

27

Lebor, Adam, "Angela Merkel: Europe's Conscience on the Refugee Crisis," Newsweek, 18 September 2015, pp. 12-15.

Machado, Barry, "A Usable Marshall Plan," in: The Marshall Plan: Lessons Learned for the 21st Century, edited by Sorel, Eliot and Padoan, Pier Carlo (Paris: OECD Publishing, 2008), pp. 51-64.

Majerus, J., The Threat of Al-Qaeda after Osama Bin Laden (Mnchen: Grin Verlag, 2013). Martin, Michelle, "Rebel Crisis Arouses Fear and Fury on Germany's far-right," Reuters, 17

September 2015. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/17/us-europe-migrants-germany-rightwing-idUSKCN0RH0KX20150917 [accessed 21 September 2015].

McHugh, Jess, "How the EU Migrant Crisis Is Fueling Right-Wing Politicians and Refugee Policies in Europe," International Business Times, 27 August 2015. http://www.ibtimes.com/how-eu-migrant-crisis-fueling-right-wing-politicians-refugee-policies-europe-2071326[accessed 21 September 2015].

Menkhaus, Ken, "Quasi-States, Nation-Building, and Terrorist Safe Havens," Journal of Conflict Studies, Vol. 23:2 (Fall 2003), pp. 723.

Nakhoul, Samia, "Saddam's former army is secret of Baghdadi's success," Reuters, 16 June 2015. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/16/us-mideast-crisis-baghdadi-insight-idUSKBN0OW1VN20150616 [accessed 21 September 2015].

Nordenstam, Sven, "Thousands of Swedes rally in support of refugees," Reuters, 6 September 2015. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/06/us-europe-migrants-sweden-idUSKCN0R60UW20150906 [accessed 21 September 2015].

Outzen, Richard, "The Flawed Strategic Debate on Syria," INSS CSR Strategic Forum No. 285 (Washington D.C.: Institute for National Strategic Studies, 2014), pp. 1-12. http://inss.dodlive.mil/files/2014/04/SF-285.pdf [accessed 26 May 2014].

Pape, Robert, Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Bombing (New York: Random House, 2005).

Patrick, Stewart, "Failed States and Global Security: Empirical Questions and Policy Dilemmas," International Studies Review, Vol. 9:4 (Winter 2007), pp. 644-662.

Patterson, James T., Grand Expectations. The United States, 1945-1974 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996).

Rashid, Ahmed, Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil, and Fundamentalism in Central Asia (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000).

Riedel, Bruce Riedel, "Al-Qaeda Strikes Back," Foreign Affairs, Vol. 86:3 (May/June 2007), pp. 24-40.

Rodberg, Robert I. Rodberg, State Failure and State Weakness in a Time of Terror (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2003).

Roy, Oliver, Secularism Confronts Islam (in German) (Mnchen: Siedler Verlag 2008). Sageman, Marc, "A Strategy for Fighting International Islamist Terrorists," Annals of the

American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 618 (July 2008), pp. 223-231. Sawyer, Reid Sawyer and Foster, Michael, "The Resurgent and Persistent Threat of Al

Qaeda," Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 618 (July 2008), pp. 197-211.

Shaheen, Kareem, "Food aid cuts 'making refugees targets for ISIS recruitment'," The Guardian, 13 August 2015. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/13/food-aid-cuts-making-refugees-targets-for-isis-recruitment [accessed 22 September 2015].

Shephard, Ben, The Long Road Home: The Aftermath of the Second World War (London: Bodley Head, 2010).

Tabler, Andrew J., "Syria's Collapse. And How Washington Can Stop It," Foreign Affairs, Vol. 92:4 (July/August 2013), pp. 90-100.

Thompson, W. Scott and Frizzell, Donaldson D., The Lessons of Vietnam (Crane, Russak & C0.: New York, 1977).

28

United Nations World Summit Outcome Document 2005, United Nations (New York: United Nations, 2005). http://www.who.int/hiv/universalaccess2010/worldsummit.pdf [accessed 23 May 2014].

Vereb, Father Jerome (ed.), A Year with Jean Paul II. Daily Meditations from His Writings and Prayers (New York: HarperCollins, 2005).

Vitello, P., "Islamic Center Exposes Mixed Feelings Locally," The New York Times, 20 August 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/20/nyregion/20muslims.html?pagewanted=all [accessed 26 November 2012].

Whitman, Elizabeth, "ISIS in Hungary? As Refugees Enter Europe, Officials Fear Islamic State Militants Could Be Among Them," International Business Times, 9 September 2015. http://www.ibtimes.com/isis-hungary-refugees-enter-europe-officials-fear-islamic-state-militants-could-be-2088752 [accessed 22 September 2015].

Woodbridge, George, UNRRA: The History of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (New York: Columbia University Press, 1950).