Most Popular
1. It’s a New Macro, the Gold Market Knows It, But Dead Men Walking Do Not (yet)- Gary_Tanashian
2.Stock Market Presidential Election Cycle Seasonal Trend Analysis - Nadeem_Walayat
3. Bitcoin S&P Pattern - Nadeem_Walayat
4.Nvidia Blow Off Top - Flying High like the Phoenix too Close to the Sun - Nadeem_Walayat
4.U.S. financial market’s “Weimar phase” impact to your fiat and digital assets - Raymond_Matison
5. How to Profit from the Global Warming ClImate Change Mega Death Trend - Part1 - Nadeem_Walayat
7.Bitcoin Gravy Train Trend Forecast 2024 - - Nadeem_Walayat
8.The Bond Trade and Interest Rates - Nadeem_Walayat
9.It’s Easy to Scream Stocks Bubble! - Stephen_McBride
10.Fed’s Next Intertest Rate Move might not align with popular consensus - Richard_Mills
Last 7 days
Stocks, Bitcoin and Crypto Markets Breaking Bad on Donald Trump Pump - 21st Nov 24
Gold Price To Re-Test $2,700 - 21st Nov 24
Stock Market Sentiment Speaks: This Is My Strong Warning To You - 21st Nov 24
Financial Crisis 2025 - This is Going to Shock People! - 21st Nov 24
Dubai Deluge - AI Tech Stocks Earnings Correction Opportunities - 18th Nov 24
Why President Trump Has NO Real Power - Deep State Military Industrial Complex - 8th Nov 24
Social Grant Increases and Serge Belamant Amid South Africa's New Political Landscape - 8th Nov 24
Is Forex Worth It? - 8th Nov 24
Nvidia Numero Uno in Count Down to President Donald Pump Election Victory - 5th Nov 24
Trump or Harris - Who Wins US Presidential Election 2024 Forecast Prediction - 5th Nov 24
Stock Market Brief in Count Down to US Election Result 2024 - 3rd Nov 24
Gold Stocks’ Winter Rally 2024 - 3rd Nov 24
Why Countdown to U.S. Recession is Underway - 3rd Nov 24
Stock Market Trend Forecast to Jan 2025 - 2nd Nov 24
President Donald PUMP Forecast to Win US Presidential Election 2024 - 1st Nov 24
At These Levels, Buying Silver Is Like Getting It At $5 In 2003 - 28th Oct 24
Nvidia Numero Uno Selling Shovels in the AI Gold Rush - 28th Oct 24
The Future of Online Casinos - 28th Oct 24
Panic in the Air As Stock Market Correction Delivers Deep Opps in AI Tech Stocks - 27th Oct 24
Stocks, Bitcoin, Crypto's Counting Down to President Donald Pump! - 27th Oct 24
UK Budget 2024 - What to do Before 30th Oct - Pensions and ISA's - 27th Oct 24
7 Days of Crypto Opportunities Starts NOW - 27th Oct 24
The Power Law in Venture Capital: How Visionary Investors Like Yuri Milner Have Shaped the Future - 27th Oct 24
This Points To Significantly Higher Silver Prices - 27th Oct 24

Market Oracle FREE Newsletter

How to Protect your Wealth by Investing in AI Tech Stocks

Terrorism Fuels Nationalism and Deglobalization of the World

Politics / GeoPolitics Jul 25, 2016 - 03:19 PM GMT

By: John_Mauldin

Politics

BY PATRICK WATSON : The weaponized truck attack in Nice, France has terrorism fear on the rise once again. The incidents seem to be more frequent, and the death tolls are rising. People are afraid, and they want it to stop.

Don’t hold your breath, says George Friedman of Geopolitical Futures. The top geopolitics expert says all the options are bad. And, the wrong responses could make the problem even worse.


Speaking in a recent Mauldin Economics video, Friedman said policymakers must admit their solutions haven’t worked. The public wants an answer and will embrace those who claim to have one.

By the way, subscribe to George Friedman’s free weekly column, This Week in Geopolitics, at Mauldin Economics.

“Fear Not” vs. “Do Something”

Friedman sees two different factions forming in the West, with sharply opposing attitudes on terrorism and what to do about it.

The “No Fear” coalition looks at numbers and sees terrorism as a minor risk compared to many other social issues. They say, with some justification, we can save more lives by reducing traffic accidents or curing cancer. To them, being killed by a terrorist is a risk like being struck by lightning. We should take precautions, like not climbing trees during thunderstorms, but otherwise go on with normal life.

The “Do Something” side argues that radical Islamic terrorists are still attacking us 15 years after 9/11, so the solutions thus far are obviously not working. People don’t want to be afraid, but they are, and they are ready to try something new.

New ideas like Donald Trump’s Muslim travel ban may be unworkable, but a significant part of the public is ready to try them anyway. Pressure is growing.

Pressure to Deglobalize

Asked about Salman Rushdie’s argument that globalization will continue despite terrorism, Friedman had a different view. The international institutions that drive globalization, like the European Union, have lost their credibility.

Eight years after the financial crisis, the EU is still struggling to restore economic growth and stabilize its banking system. People see this and don’t believe the EU and its leading members have the capacity to solve terrorism.

Meanwhile, loud voices in the US are asking why Europe can’t defend itself instead of leaning on the US-dominated NATO alliance. Americans see Europe bringing little to the table.

Now, add terrorism on top of all these other problems. Friedman calls the result a “potent mix of nationalism” that won’t go away easily.

Preposterous Solutions

The demands to “do something” lead into another debate: do what? The elite argument that we should simply live with the risk isn’t a solution. People want action.

Unfortunately, headline ideas like banning Muslims from the US will do nothing to solve the problem and will likely create new ones. But the do-nothing camp is largely the same people who presided over years of economic weakness and social breakdown. They have no credibility.

Sooner or later, frightened people will elect those who promise to relieve those fears. Whether they actually can is beside the point. Leaders in both Europe and the US are under pressure to take action, or at least the appearance of action. Whatever they do is unlikely to solve the problem, so the attacks will continue. This is one of those times when all the options are bad.

Watch the full interview (8:50) below or on the Mauldin Economics site.

Subscribe to This Week in Geopolitics

George Friedman writes the free weekly column This Week in Geopolitics for Mauldin Economics.  Subscribe now and get an in-depth view of the forces that will drive events and investors in the next year, decade, or even a century from now.

John Mauldin Archive

© 2005-2022 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.


Post Comment

Only logged in users are allowed to post comments. Register/ Log in