Rally to show solidarity with refugees seeking snactuary from conflict in Syria, Bucharest, Romania. Andreea Alexandru/Press Association. All rights reserved. The threat that most people now fear most is terrorism. Yet current methods for dealing with terrorism simply repeat previous grave errors of decision-making that exacerbate the problem. In order to map an effective strategy it’s essential to understand how militant fighters think, and what they fear.
To respond to terrorism with violence is counter-productive, because violence is what terrorists understand, and they are masters of exploiting our addiction to news of their brutality. Violence, says former Islamic State captive Nicolas Hénin, is exactly what his captors want: “They will be heartened by every sign of overreaction, of division, of fear, of racism, of xenophobia; they will be drawn to any examples of ugliness on social media.”
"Strikes on Isis are a trap,” he says. “The winner of this war will not be the party that has the newest, the most expensive or the most sophisticated weaponry, but the party that manages to win over the people to its side.” As an example of how people had responded well, he described the recent escalation of the refugee crisis – and corresponding offers from people in Europe to give homes to fleeing Muslims – as “a blow to Isis”. Offers from people in Europe to give homes to fleeing Muslims are “a blow to Isis”.
