As young people, born and raised in democratic societies, yield to the appeal of death-dealing groups like the Islamic State, one must ask how democracies can defeat the forces drawing them away. The answer lies not in guns or bombs, but in ideas.
NEW YORK – The decision to abandon relative peace and prosperity for brutal war and instability may seem irrational. But young people, born and raised in democratic societies, have increasingly been yielding to the appeal of death-dealing groups like the Islamic State, leaving their homes and families to wage jihad in faraway places. Why has democracy lost the allegiance of these restless spirits, and how can it recapture the hearts and minds of others who would follow suit?
NEW YORK – The decision to abandon relative peace and prosperity for brutal war and instability may seem irrational. But young people, born and raised in democratic societies, have increasingly been yielding to the appeal of death-dealing groups like the Islamic State, leaving their homes and families to wage jihad in faraway places. Why has democracy lost the allegiance of these restless spirits, and how can it recapture the hearts and minds of others who would follow suit?