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Is promoting civil society key to combating radical groups?

Propping up oppressive dictators won’t stop violence in the Middle East and beyond, and a sophisticated approach is needed to address the complex origins of terror in the region.
A man carries a candle and a placard with an image of the Eiffel tower in tribute to the victims of the Paris attacks in the town of Duma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus November 14, 2015. Picture taken November 14, 2015. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh - RTS75VU
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A new flood of terrorism has breached the collapsing old Arab order. No longer confined to the southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, this tide of violence is now capable of reaching the heart of Europe.

The latest disaster, the atrocious Nov. 13 attack in Paris, is unlikely to be the last. At least 129 deaths were already reported in Paris at the time of this writing. In the same week, an attack on Dahiyeh, a southern Shiite suburb of Beirut, resulted in more than 40 deaths. Just before that, a Russian civilian plane was brought down over the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. The Islamic State (IS) and its affiliates claimed responsibility for all the attacks.

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