Recent attacks spark renewed debate on cultural roots of violence and global security threats
The global debate over whether violence is culturally ingrained or driven by historical and socio-political factors has gained renewed urgency as extremist violence escalates from the Middle East to the West. Recent attacks linked to radical ideologies have heightened concerns over global security.
On New Year’s Eve, former US Army Staff Sgt. Shamsud-Din Jabbar killed 15 people and injured more than 30 in New Orleans after driving a truck into a crowd and opening fire. Authorities discovered an Islamic State (IS) flag in his vehicle, suggesting ideological motivations behind the attack.
Just days earlier, on December 20, a Saudi national killed five people and wounded over 200 at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, despite prior intelligence warnings. The incident has raised serious concerns about the effectiveness of European counterterrorism measures.
In another alarming development, Swedish authorities recently thwarted an Iran-linked plot involving a 15-year-old boy who was planning attacks on Israeli targets in Stockholm and Gothenburg.
Experts warn that as tensions rise in the Middle East, extremist groups are exploiting regional instability to expand their global reach. This trend signals that ideological violence remains a growing and complex threat to international security.
Is Violence Cultural Behavior?
Dan Schueftan, director of the University of Haifa’s National Security Studies Center, emphasized the broader context of violence in the Middle East and noted that immigration has extended its cultural influence to Western societies.
The Middle East is an extremely violent area
“The Middle East is an extremely violent area,” Schueftan told The Media Line. “Forget the Arab-Israeli conflict—just look at this region over the last 100 years. We’ve had, only in recent years, civil wars in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, and Algeria. This is a very violent area.”
Schueftan was clear that violence and Islamic culture do not always go hand in hand. But he said that some countries are more violent than others and that immigrants from more violent cultures influence the countries they come to.
“Millions of these people are coming to Europe and to the United States. And what they bring with them very often is their culture, including the violent part of their culture,” he said. “And here is the interesting paradox—they are running away from their countries because their culture destroyed their country. And then when they want to have a better life, they come to a place with another culture, but they bring their culture with them, so they also bring violence to Europe and to the United States.”
He said that grievances against the immigrants’ adopted countries do not explain the rates of terrorism. “The problem is that they come from an environment where, when you have a grievance, you kill people,” he said. “Now, in Western societies, it is much less prevalent than in Middle Eastern and other radical societies.”
Role of IS
IS continues to pose a significant threat around the globe, despite the dismantling of the group’s so-called caliphate in 2019, experts said.
The threat of the Islamic State has never gone away
“The threat of the Islamic State has never gone away,” Fawaz Gerges, author of “ISIS: A History,” told The Media Line. “It ebbs and flows depending on world circumstances and social and political upheaval in Muslim societies.”
Since losing its territorial base in Syria and its primary source of income, the group has transformed into a guerrilla force and a transnational phenomenon, adapting to new realities while maintaining its ideological fervor. “IS is self-funded,” Gerges said. It relies on extortion, criminality, and ransom money for hostages it kidnaps.”
“In the past few years, the Islamic State has carried out scores of deadly attacks in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, which are its strongholds,” he noted. “There is increasing evidence that the Islamic State has been trying to exploit the power vacuum and turmoil in Syria and to expand its influence.”
In Iraq, authorities have observed a resurgence in IS-related violent activities, Gerges said. Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, IS’s regional affiliate has launched a series of attacks against the Taliban and has targeted Shiite mosques, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of worshippers.
Transnational Influence and Lone Attacks
Beyond its physical presence in the Middle East, IS continues to inspire individuals worldwide, often resulting in lone-wolf terrorist attacks.
“The Islamic State inspires and motivates deluded men worldwide who are either radicalized or who are mentally and psychologically scarred,” Gerges said. “The ideological diet of the Islamic State is the fuel that powers lone wolves who have carried out scores of terrorist attacks worldwide, including Iran, Europe, Russia, and the United States. It has become a transnational phenomenon and a powerful conduit for radicalized individuals worldwide.”
Lone wolf attacks are particularly difficult for security services to handle, Gerges said. “There are limits to what security services could do to prevent terrorist attacks, like the terror attack in New Orleans this week or the one against a Christmas market in Germany,” he explained. “The lone wolf phenomenon is extremely difficult to preempt and prevent. It is almost impossible to get into the mind of a committed individual who is bent on killing randomly.”
Schueftan explained that direct recruitment by IS and similar groups is less common than people think. “The influence of IS is not that IS goes to somebody in Europe and recruits them,” he said. “Frustrated people prone to extremism are looking for IS on the web, get it on the web, and then become IS. It is not an active IS recruitment program in Europe. It is the fact that people from the Middle East—particularly Muslim Arabs who come to Europe—look up IS and join IS.”
Impact of Trump’s Presidency on Terrorism
US President-elect Donald Trump has promised to curb terrorism by cutting down on immigration to the US. “If Donald Trump will succeed in preventing the massive immigration into the United States, including the immigration of people who come from violent backgrounds, I think that it will have an impact,” Schueftan said.
He said that cultural relativism and the acceptance of violent beliefs have been a significant force behind the rise in terrorism. “The major reason why we’re having this surge in violence is progressivism destroying liberalism,” he said.
Security Challenges in Public Spaces
There is no such thing as absolute security when it comes to public gatherings
As recent attacks have shown, public spaces in the United States and Europe remain vulnerable to terrorism. Authorities can take measures to mitigate risks, but complete protection is nearly impossible. “While mass gatherings in public like those in Germany and the United States can be made safer from vehicle ramming attacks, there is no such thing as absolute security when it comes to public gatherings,” Gerges said. “In the end, all security systems sometimes fail.”
Despite its territorial losses, IS has proven itself to be a resilient and adaptable force. The group’s ability to sustain guerrilla operations, inspire attacks globally, and exploit instability in conflict zones highlights the complexity of the ongoing fight against terrorism. While IS may have lost its physical caliphate, the recent surge in attacks serves as a stark reminder that the group’s ideological influence remains potent.
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Publish date : 2025-01-12 08:16:00
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