After the tragic 9/11 attacks in New York, America has never been the same. Following the attacks, a rise in patriotic rhetoric, nationalism, and unfortunately racism and islamophobia was seen throughout the U.S. and around the world. This led to a war we are still trying to end many years after the attack. Terrorism is upsettingly successful in creating massive schisms between people of the victimized country, causing societal damage long after the trauma caused by the initial tragedy. With the recent attacks in Paris, a rise in the acceptance of far-right and right-wing ideologies may become more prevalent, with groups like the Front National being the third largest political party in France.

With the Front Nationals’ current status in regards to its political power, it’s not hard to see them gaining more power by capitalizing on the fear of the already rattled country. The attacks give them the perfect platform in which to campaign on with their vehemently anti-immigrant sentiments. The danger of all this being a reduction of equality, the deliberate targeting of minorities and certain groups, and reduced civil liberties. Another notable and large repercussion is the impact this has on the lives of refugees seeking asylum, countries such as Sweden, who have long had lenient policies on immigration are seeing shifts towards right wing groups after accepted refugees “failed to assimilate”.

The message and lesson we can learn from the rise of the far right in Europe is that no matter how fearful we are, hateful, dangerous and extreme ideologies will not solve our problems, creating further disunity and allowing fear to rule our actions is the goal of those who inflict terror.