The Syrian War and Terror in Europe

Since the start of the Syrian war in 2011, one of the chief concerns of European officials, police, and security services is the number of radicalized European Muslims who have traveled to the Middle East to join ISIS. What happens when they return to the continent? The terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13th seem to have answered that question. Even a small cell, representing a minute percentage of Europe’s Muslim population, is capable of wreaking untold mayhem and wounding a mighty nation. The question for France, and indeed for all of Europe, is what to do?

As French president Francois Hollande orders air strikes against ISIS in Raqqa, Syria, it is already apparent that this is insufficient. Whether or not orders to kill Frenchmen came from ISIS headquarters is immaterial because the operatives carried European passports. What can be done to stop the terrorists already on the ground?

On December 2nd, Hudson Institute hosted a timely and vitally important lunchtime discussion on the ongoing threat. Hudson Senior Fellow Lee Smith moderated a discussion with Hudson Research Fellow Benjamin Haddad, CSIS Visiting Fellow Simond de Galbert, Le Figaro's Laure Mandeville, and The Weekly Standard's Christopher Caldwell.