In Turkey, a Capstone to a Violent Year; in Germany, a Realization of Fears

The assassination of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey at a photography exhibit and a truck roaring through Berlin streets, targeting a Christmas market and killing at least a dozen people, demonstrate that security is tenuous. A few can destroy good relations and disrupt communities. “The two terrorist attacks … came within hours of each other Monday night, bookends to a terrible year that saw the wars of the Middle East metastasize across Europe and beyond, spawning terrorism, upending the lives of ordinary citizens and energizing right-wing political movements,” writes Tim Arango for the New York Times. The ambassador’s assassin, an off-duty police officer, announced the shooting was in retaliation for Russia’s bombing of Syrian city of Aleppo before he was killed; the hunt for the truck driver continues. Such attacks fuel hard-right policies, harden feelings against refugees fleeing violence in the Middle East, and encourage reckless interventions. One writer interviewed for the article suggests that violence is inevitable as long as war, inequality and autocracy thrive in the Middle East. – YaleGlobal