Callous as it may sound, we must master the art of quiet, proportional sympathy.

I think your conclusion, like the rest of your article, is excellent.

I would implore readers, however, to go further. The media, politicians, and terrorist groups did not create The Narrative, but merely parrot something that has existed as long as “Western” civilization itself.

This Narrative will not disappear until people disabuse themselves of the notion that “The West” or “Islam” or other broad civilizational terms are useful generalities for understanding the world. Sure, there are connections between the US and France or the Arabic-speaking countries that were ruled by the Ottoman Empire. But I would say there are just as thick, and bloody, connections between Algeria and France or the US and Iraq. We miss these when we insist there is some eternal link between Paris, London, and New York and a insurmountable cultural divide between these cities and Beirut, Cairo, and Istanbul.

We will get nowhere until we question why we are so quick to link arms with the French or Germans, but must be exhorted to care about the lives of those who don’t live in the “West.”