The European Union and Terrorism

European integration, more than nuclear dissuasion, has protected the 'Old Continent' from war. Whilst three generations have enjoyed this unprecedented period of peace, our collective perception of armed conflict now finds itself radically changed.

This is all the more so since, in our eyes, the collapse of the Soviet bloc granted the sole monopoly of legitimate violence to the American superpower and its NATO allies, in the name of the defence and promotion of shared, common Western values.

If an armed initiative, the threat of employing this or even simply talking about it does not fit in to this monopoly, it is described by our media and perceived by our public opinion as illegitimate, barbaric, comparable to terrorism and manufactured by the 'axis of evil'.

This perception is confirmed by the fact that any armed undertaking against the West and its allies is automatically forced to implement weak to strong strategies, the basic elements of which are highly mediatised brutality and excessive violence.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Fighting terrorism at EU level, an overview of Commission's actions, measures and initiatives http://www.europeansources.info/record/fighting-terrorism-at-eu-level-an-overview-of-commissions-actions-measures-and-initiatives/

ESO: Background information: EU Counter-terrorism strategy [What Think Tanks are thinking] http://www.europeansources.info/record/eu-counter-terrorism-strategy-what-think-tanks-are-thinking/

ESO: Background information: After Paris: What’s next for the EU’s counter-terrorism policy? http://www.europeansources.info/record/after-paris-whats-next-for-the-eus-counter-terrorism-policy/

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