A memorial commemorates the victims of the Paris attacks on a street in Paris on Monday, November 16.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
A woman on November 16 sits in front of the Parisian concert venue Balaclan, where many of the victims from the Paris attacks were killed.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
An anti-border control, pro-refugee sticker is pasted over an advertisement in Paris on November 16.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
A young man in Paris on November 16 holds a sign that reads "Not even afraid" in the neighborhood of Le petit Cambodge, a restaurant that was hit in the attacks.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
Security guards stand outside a Disney store on Champs Elysees in Paris on November 16.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
Comments made with different colored chalk are written on the Place de la Republique in Paris on November 16.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
A man sells newspapers on Sunday, November 15, at the Barbes-Rochechouart Metro station in one of the Paris neighborhoods with the highest foreign-born population. The headlines read "The War against Daech / ISIS" and "The Day After."
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
People walk past a man selling newspapers near the Barbes-Rochechouart Metro station on November 15.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
A woman reads a newspaper in the Cafe Les Deux Magots on November 15 In the St. Germain neighborhood of Paris.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
People sit inside the St. Sulpice Catholic church on November 15 in Paris.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
Children play on November 15 with Notre Dame in the background.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
Tourists walk past Notre Dame on November 15 as the military and police patrol the area.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
A crowd gathers on Rue Charonne on November 15 near the site of one of the attacks.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
"No passaran!" is scrawled on a wall near the Bataclan music venue on November 15. The phrase translates roughly to "thou shall not pass" and refers to standing firm in the face of an enemy.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
People walk down Rue Charonne on November 15, near the site of one of the attacks.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
Drinks sit abandoned on a cafe terrace near Place de la République after a false alarm caused a panic on November 15.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
A woman observes bullet holes in a wall near the Paris restaurant Le Petit Cambodge on Saturday, November 14.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
A crowd gathers on November 14 outside Le Petit Cambodge, where more than a dozen people were killed.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
A man wearing a French flag walks through the streets of Paris on November 14. French President Francois Hollande has declared a state of emergency.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
Candles and flowers are seen on November 14 at the spot where a victim died on the Rue de la Fontaine au Roi. Five people were killed in a shooting outside a bar in Paris' 11th district, according to prosecutor Francois Molins.
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Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
A woman takes a picture of a window shattered by bullets on November 14.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
The windows of a laundromat on the Rue de la Fontaine au Roi were blown out in the attacks.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
People take pictures on November 14 near the Bataclan concert hall, where more than 80 people were killed.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
A woman walks past a memorial in Paris' 10th district November 14.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
Bernard-Henri Levy, a prominent French philosopher, stands in the center of a crowd near the Bataclan on November 14.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
Women pay their respects near the Bataclan on November 14. Three gunmen shot concertgoers and held hostages late Friday night until police raided the building.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
Candles are lit to honor the victims of the attacks on November 14.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
A family stands among TV crews set up on November 14 near the Bataclan.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
Bullet holes are circled on a wall near Le Petit Cambodge on November 14.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
People gather on November 14 at the Place de la Republique square.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Photos: Aftermath of Paris terror attacks
A couple embraces in the streets of Paris on November 14. The world has rallied around France.
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Thomas Dworzak/Magnum Photos for CNN
Story highlights
Jay Parini: After Paris attack, U.S. must consider history before acting, to get to peace without creating further instabilities
He says path to current terror not helped by our foreign policy blunders in past. Now it's time to build coalitions to end, not feed, ISIS chaos
Editor’s Note: Jay Parini, a poet and novelist, teaches at Middlebury College in Vermont and is the author of “Empire of Self: A Life of Gore Vidal.” The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
(CNN) —
In the wake of the sad, grotesque attacks on innocents in Paris this past weekend, it’s important for American policymakers – and Americans generally – to think hard about an appropriate response. It’s easy to make a mistake in these circumstances, one that will add kerosene to a fire that threatens everyone who cares deeply about the future of liberal democracy.
Jay Parini
Many people (including Donald Trump) would agree with what Bernie Sanders said in last week’s presidential debate, that “the invasion of Iraq led to the massive levels of instability. It was one of the worst foreign policy blunders in the history of the United States.”
We need now to behave in ways that will enhance the possibilities of peace, and will not create further instabilities.
It helps to look at history – not to find equivalencies but understanding, taking the long view that recognizes appropriate contexts. We make bad decisions about foreign policy – and war – when we fail to take into account the historical setting, which is, well, almost everything.
For example, we lost 50,000 American soldiers in Vietnam because our policy-makers failed to look at the wider historical context, ignoring the traditional animosity between China and Vietnam – a conflict in which it was highly unlikely that the “domino effect” would ever be relevant. It wasn’t, and we created mayhem in the region.
Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects
A Belgian soldier stands guard around a security perimeter as a reported police intervention takes place around the Grand Place central square in Brussels on Sunday, November 22. Multiple raids took place throughout Brussels, according to the Belgium Federal prosecutor, and 16 people were arrested. Salah Abdeslam, a suspect in Paris terror attacks, was not among them.
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EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects
Belgian police officers and soldiers secure an area as a reported police intervention takes place around the Grand Place central square in Brussels on November 22.
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EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects
Belgian national Ahmad Dahmani, center, suspected to be involved in the November 13 Paris attacks, was arrested late Friday, November 20, in southern Antalya province, Turkey. Dahmani had been tracked by a police anti-terror unit after he arrived at the Antalya International Airport -- on a flight from Paris -- the day after the massacre.
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SABAH/DP/ABACA
Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects
Two Syrian nationals, Ahmet Tahir, left, and Muhammed Verd, were arrested by Turkish security forces in southern Antalya province, Turkey, on November 20. They were captured, allegedly with a fake Syrian passport for Belgian national Ahmad Dahmani, suspected of location scouting for the Paris attackers.
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SABAH/DP/ABACA/SIPA
Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects
Police searched the home of Hasna Ait Boulahcen's mother in Aulnay-sous-Bois, France, on Thursday, November 19. Ait Boulahcen, 26, was killed during Wednesday's raid on an apartment in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, official sources in France told CNN. She did not blow herself up as was previously thought.
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OLIVIER ARANDEL/Maxppp/Landov
Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects
A body is removed from an apartment that was raided by police in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, France, on Wednesday, November 18. French special forces were looking for those behind the November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris. The hourslong ordeal ended with at least two suspects dead and eight detained.
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ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects
Authorities zeroed in on the Saint-Denis building after picking up phone conversations that a relative of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the attacks' purported ringleader, might be there. The Paris prosecutor's office later announced that Abaaoud's bullet-riddled body was found after the raid.
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Pierre Suu/Getty Images
Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve visits Saint-Denis during the raid on November 18.
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Pierre Suu//Getty Images
Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects
A Renault Clio with Belgian license plates is towed by the police in Paris on Tuesday, November 17. The car is believed to have been rented by Salah Abdeslam. Authorities are looking for Abdeslam, a Belgium-born French national who is one of three brothers suspected in the terror attacks.
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Thibault Camus/AP
Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects
Special forces stand guard on a roof in Molenbeek, a suburb of Brussels, Belgium, on Monday, November 16.
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DIRK WAEM/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects
Armed police guard a street in Brussels on November 16.
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Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP
Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects
Salah Abdeslam's brother Mohammed speaks to the media at his house in Molenbeek on November 16. Mohamed Abdeslam was released by police after being detained over the weekend.
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Leila Khemissi/AP
Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects
Special forces sit on a roof in Molenbeek as they prepare to enter a house on November 16.
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Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP
Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects
Armed police guard a street in Molenbeek on November 16.
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Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP
Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects
A man is detained by a police officer after a raid in the Mirail district of Toulouse, France, on November 16. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said there were 150 police raids overnight in the country.
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AP
Photos: The search for Paris terror suspects
Police officers overlook Paris as they patrol in front of the Sacre Coeur Basilica on November 16.
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MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP/Getty Images
Pushed to the limit, we simply withdrew in 1975, with our tail between our legs. And where is Vietnam today? The U.S. is currently the largest single importer of Vietnamese goods and Vietnamese are the eighth-largest student group studying in the States. Of course, it took almost four decades for that kind of healing to occur.
Which is a good thing to keep in mind. Healing can happen.
In the Middle East, we must always be aware of our long history of ill-considered interventions. For instance, we helped to overthrow Mohammad Mossadegh, a democratically elected Prime Minister in Iran, in 1953, putting our weight behind the dictatorial Shah, who ruled with an iron fist until he was overthrown by the 1979 Islamic Revolution. We must try to keep this history in mind when considering our difficulties with Iran: they have long memories, even if we don’t.
Then there is our avid support for the extremist House of Saud, in Saudi Arabia; this alliance goes back to 1933, and was largely about oil, then as now. The rise of extreme forms of Islam is closely tied to our Saudi alliances. Indeed, Osama bin Laden was himself a member of an elite Saudi family, and his movement centered on outrage over the American military presence in the land of Mecca.
In thinking about the rise of jihadists, it’s important to recall our support for the violent mujahadeen during the Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989). This support helped to secure forms of Islam that, in due course, led to the rise of fundamentalist Islam throughout the Middle East.
The path to 9/11 was firmly paved by these, and many other, miscalculations.
It certainly didn’t help anything to invade Iraq in 2003, thus removing Saddam – a secular Muslim. When we destroyed his Baathist army, we unwittingly prepared the ground for the rise of ISIS fighters, who are the children of Saddam grown wild, maddened by a kind of existential despair.
So now what?
There are only three things to keep in mind: coalition, coalition and coalition.
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, second from right, and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo arrive at the Bataclan, site of one of the Paris terrorists attacks, to pay their respects to the victims after Obama arrived in town for the COP21 climate change conference early on Monday, November 30, in Paris.
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Evan Vucci/AP
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
The Eiffel Tower in Paris is illuminated in the French national colors on Monday, November 16. Displays of support for the French people were evident at landmarks around the globe after the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday, November 13.
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Frank Augstein/AP
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
People hold hands as they observe a minute of silence in Lyon, France, on November 16, three days after the Paris attacks. A minute of silence was observed throughout the country in memory of the victims of the country's deadliest violence since World War II.
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Laurent Cipriani/AP
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
French President Francois Hollande, center, flanked by French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, right, and French Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, center left, stands among students during a minute of silence in the courtyard of the Sorbonne University in Paris on November 16.
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Guillaume Horcajuelo/AP
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
A large crowd gathers to lay flowers and candles in front of the Carillon restaurant in Paris on Sunday, November 15.
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Ian Langsdon/EPA/LANDOV
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
A man sits next to candles lit as homage to the victims of the deadly attacks in Paris at a square in Rio de Janeiro on November 15.
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Leo Correa/AP
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
People light candles in tribute to the Paris victims on November 15 in Budapest, Hungary.
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BALAZS MOHAI/MTI/EPA/LANDOV
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
People gather outside Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on November 15 for a national service for the victims of the city's terror attacks.
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Daniel Ochoa de Olza/AP
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
People write messages on the ground at Place de la Republique in Paris on November 15.
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Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
People pray during a candlelight vigil for victims of the Paris attacks at a church in Islamabad, Pakistan, on November 15.
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Anjum Naveed/AP
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
French golfer Gregory Bourdy passes a peace symbol for the Paris victims during the BMW Shanghai Masters tournament November 15 in Shanghai, China.
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Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
A man offers a prayer in memory of victims of the Paris attacks at the French Embassy in Tokyo on November 15.
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Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
A woman holds a candle atop a miniature replica of the Eiffel Tower during a candlelight vigil Saturday, November 14, in Vancouver, British Columbia.
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Darryl Dyck/AP
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
Front pages of Japanese newspapers in Tokyo show coverage and photos of the Paris attacks on November 14.
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Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
An electronic billboard on a canal in Milan, Italy reads, in French, "I'm Paris," on November 14.
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Luca Bruno/AP
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
The Eiffel Tower stands dark as a mourning gesture on November 14, in Paris. More than 125 people were killed in a series of coordinated attacks in Paris on Friday. People around the world reacted in horror to the deadly terrorist assaults.
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ETIENNE LAURENT/EPA/EPA /LANDOV
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
Lithuanians hold a candlelight vigil in front of the French Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania, on November 14.
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Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
Thousands gather in London's Trafalgar Square for a candlelit vigil on November 14 to honor the victims of the Paris attacks.
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Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
A woman lights candles at a memorial near the Bataclan theater in Paris on November 14.
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LAURENT DUBRULE/EPA/LANDOV
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
A man places a candle in front of Le Carillon cafe in Paris on November 14.
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Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
A woman holds a French flag during a gathering in Stockholm, Sweden, on November 14.
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Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
Nancy Acevedo prays for France during the opening prayer for the Sunshine Summit being held at Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Florida on November 14.
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Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
French soldiers of the United Nations' interim forces in Lebanon observe the national flag at half-staff at the contingent headquarters in the village of Deir Kifa on November 14.
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Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
A couple surveys the signature sails of the Sydney Opera House lit in the colors of the French flag in Sydney on November 14.
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Rick Rycroft/AP
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
A woman places flowers in front of the French Consulate in St. Petersburg, Russia, on November 14.
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Dmitry Lovetsky/AP
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
Candles are lit in Hong Kong on November 14 to remember the scores who died in France.
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Kin Cheung/AP
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
A woman lights a candle outside the French Consulate in Barcelona, Spain, on November 14.
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Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
Britain's Prince Charles expresses solidarity with France at a birthday barbecue in his honor near Perth, Australia, on November 14.
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Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
The French national flag flutters at half-staff on November 14 at its embassy in Beijing.
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Andy Wong/AP
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte after a speech on November 14 in The Hague following the attacks.
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Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe becomes emotional after his speech on the French attacks during the opening ceremony of a Japanese garden in Istanbul, Turkey, on November 14.
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Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
A woman mourns outside Le Carillon bar in the 10th district of Paris on November 14. The attackers ruthlessly sought out soft targets where people were getting their weekends underway.
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Kenzo TribouillardAFP/Getty Images
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
People lay flowers outside the French Embassy in Moscow on November 14.
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Dmitry Serebryakov/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
Mourners gather outside Le Carillon bar in the 10th district of Paris on November 14. "We were listening to music when we heard what we thought were the sounds of firecrackers," a doctor from a nearby hospital who was drinking in the bar with colleagues told Le Monde. "A few moments later, it was a scene straight out of a war. Blood everywhere."
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Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
People attend a vigil outside the French Consulate in Montreal. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered "all of Canada's support" to France on Friday, November 13, in the wake of the attacks.
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Graham Hughes/AP
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
Police show a heightened presence in Times Square in New York on November 13, following the terrorist attacks in Paris.
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John Angelillo/UPI/Landov
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
People light candles at a vigil outside the French Consulate in Montreal on November 13.
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Graham Hughes/AP
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, fans observe a moment of silence for the victims of the terrorist attacks in Paris before a basketball game November 13.
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Sam Morris/AP
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
The house lights are shut off and scoreboard dark as Boston Celtics players pause for a moment of silence for the Paris victims before an NBA basketball game against the Atlanta Hawks in Boston on November 13.
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Charles Krupa/AP
Photos: World reacts to Paris attacks
People light candles at a vigil outside the French Consulate in Montreal on November 13.
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Graham Hughes/AP
With ISIS, we now face a global war of sorts, and yet — as with al Qaeda — there are many offshoots (such as the people who attacked Paris) — ad hoc sympathizers, in effect, who are willing to destroy even themselves to promote a narrow, violent strain of Islam.
Americans and their allies can’t simply bomb ISIS positions in Syria or northern Iraq and assume this will somehow take care of the problem. It won’t.
ISIS and its affiliates want the old “clash of civilization” argument to hold, the idea that a fault line exists, and that it’s somehow cultural. But this implies that we’re actually divided along these lines, and this is nonsense.
It’s important that we refuse the simplistic and dangerous “clash of civilizations” argument, which feeds into a narrative that ISIS leaders will adore. We have to remind ourselves that the vast majority of Muslims everywhere are, indeed, peaceful. We must enlist their help, as it’s in their best interests to combat extremist forms of their religion.
And we must never take unilateral action but consistently work with our democratic allies around the world and with the U.N., aware that we’re all in this together, while always keeping the history of our relations with the Islamic world in full intellectual and emotional view.
This is an argument we can win, as life under ISIS is miserably basic and relies on the cycle of violence to sustain itself. It will never triumph over rational, thoughtful people who band together in the face of radical nihilism to establish a genuine and sustainable alternative that, for all its flaws, nevertheless works: liberal democracy.
