Paris Attacks: The Global Consequences

Cosmopolitan cities like Paris, London and France are vulnerable to terrorist attacks, yet also resilient. The Islamic State’s would-be caliphate imposed by coercion and violence on communities in Iraq and Syria suffering from power vacuums could never hope to match the allure of Paris and French culture. Still, acts of terror challenge freedom and liberal ways in countries like France. Gideon Rachman notes that analysts await results of December’s regional elections in France in an essay, part of coverage by the Financial Times on the homegrown nature of the Paris attacks, leading to more than 160 raids in France alone, and the rising call by hardliners in France and beyond to limit support for refugees fleeing Syria. Seven of the suspects are said to be French citizens; one may have been a refugee. “Opinion polls were already suggesting that Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front, will win in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region,” he writes. “The National Front, which has a long history of hostility to Muslim immigration and which has also argued for the restoration of frontier controls, may well benefit in the aftermath of the attacks.” For the international community, the attacks could move France and the United States closer to the Russian stance in maintaining a role for Syria’s dictator Assad. – YaleGlobal