The policy paper identifies and critically analyses the causes of the recent terrorist attacks in France, Dresden, and Vienna. The author rejects simplistic argumentation, which claims that the attacks were caused by statements of President Erdoğan or the former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Contrary to many Czech and foreign commentators, the analysis is not based on the expression “Allahu Akbar”, shouted by jihadists during attacks. It instead highlights the importance of prevention and calls for respecting the limits of humour. Additionally, it warns about radicalization in prisons and points out the complexities of deradicalization programmes. The paper offers a set of recommendations built on a common thread – a proactive approach in countering terrorism and extremism. It mentions the case of Czechia and its Muslim community. While the Czech Muslim community is considered moderate and incident-free, the study argues that substantially more effort needs to be put into preserving the status quo. The best-case scenario is to prevent the radicalization from happening, rather than react to it ex-post. As the recent terrorist attacks across Europe showed, the process of deradicalization is extremely problematic.

The publication was prepared for the European Liberal Forum (ELF).

Policy Paper – Jan Havlíček, March 2021

Full text in PDF under the link below.