The last stop

Abstract

Violent extremism is the last stop in a long process. It is the most visible type of extremism and it creates deep and painful traces in many people’s lives. With hindsight we ask ourselves over and over what we could have done differently. It is not necessarily wrong if we do it to learn, but if we do it to undo what cannot be undone, our starting point is wrong. We do not have time to regret. We have time to act and we must do that all the time, because violent extremism is about people’s lives. It is about the fate of people who we might be able to help. The debate about violent extremism is not necessarily merely about what we are left with in the aftermath of a tragic event, but about what forms people who are willing to take to violence to express their opinions.