Faith and state

Islamist extremism has been the focus of intense global scrutiny since September 11, 2001 (9/11). ¹ As liberal democracies became the targets of attacks, they have had to respond with policies that have amplified or even dramatically changed their approach to fighting terrorism. In the early days after 9/11, many government leaders continued to view Islamist extremism as originating abroad. However, this evolved quickly in the wake of events such as the 11 March 2004 train bombings in Madrid, the assassination of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh in November 2004 and the London transportation bombings of July 2005, each of which showed the vulnerability of European societies to internal attack.