A visibly emotional and shaken President Hollande vowed in his speech after the Paris attacks that France would be merciless in its war against the Daesh (the Islamic State). While his statement comes as a logical and understandable outcome of the unfortunate Paris attacks and earns him praise from nearly all quarters of the French political and security circles, it leaves the fate of refugees in France and the West teetering dangerously on a precipice.

It is a reactionary approach taken in the wake of a lethal brew that has been bubbling for quite some time and has finally burst. All sane US policymakers now admit openly to their knee-jerk reaction to 9/11 in Afghanistan and Iraq which sowed the seeds of instability and chaos in this region as a whole, leaving the entire world still reeling from the effects.

The West had grown complacent over the fact that it could contain the Islamic State to the Middle East and would remain untouched by a spillover. This line of thinking has proven to be a little whimsical in the wake of recent events. There is a common factor, an undeniable prerequisite which helps extremism, violence and terrorism thrive -- non-inclusiveness or perhaps even the notion of such.

This can range from under-representation in politics to economic deprivation (in the form of lack of employment opportunities) to an exclusivist definition of nationhood. There is also a feeling that atrocities committed against Muslims in Palestine, Myanmar, India, and Kashmir are not condemned as vociferously, be it national or international forums. This helps build a narrative of double standards and marginalisation.

In the context of a world where terrorism has used the cover of a religious dogma to justify a struggle for a place in the global power structure, the challenge has spiralled out of control. The script followed by these groups bases the longevity and success of militant jihadist groups on the ability to spark and then manage resentment and violence -- even where it does not exist per se.

Terrorist organisations today have become increasingly savvy and perceptive, tapping into even the most latent resentment among the Muslim population that emerges sometimes out of nostalgia for a glorious past and at others, as a result of having to adopt an apologetic demeanour for merely being Muslim.

It becomes all too easy to paint out the West as a demon (duly aided by its foreign policy blunders) and leave the rest to the conscience and sentimentality -- an act of rebellion, even vengeance, is wrongfully equated with duty. The social media has been cleverly exploited to mainstream this toxic narrative.

It is justified to argue that this is a new face of terrorism that the world is confronted with in the form of the Islamic State; a far cry from the relatively calculated and cautious approach of al-Qaeda -- an organisation that unlike the Islamic State had a structure and a hierarchy. In just a matter of days, the Islamic State has managed to anger a range of countries by targeting Lebanon, Russia and now France.

The folly of the Neocons and the West that they could play god and carve out a new world order according to their whims has plunged the world into deep turmoil and insecurity. The repercussions will take a long time to settle down.

Imposing a three-month long emergency, giving draconian powers of extra-judicial arrests and investigation to the state and the creation of 9,500 jobs in areas, such as security, judicial and border control services might be the bitter pill that France has to swallow at the moment. The incumbent government must also consider factors, such as continuity and sustainability when setting policies as this will help set the tone for successive governments to optimise these to achieve intended results.

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Just recently, as the harrowing and powerful images of young Aylan Kurdi getting washed up to Turkey’s beach made their way to the media, the West’s trigger-happy foreign policy orientation and its attitude towards refugees was given a strong reality check. At least, the case was made to view refugees as victims and not perpetrators of terrorism.

Just how much of that has truly been internalised has been called into question after the Paris attacks. The real task for France, and the EU at large, is the handling of the threat posed by the ISIS with sensitivity -- that too at a time when the former has lost 129 of its own to the cruelty of the terrorist organisation.

From the looks of it, France chose to stay on the right side of history, even in the face of tragedy by renewing its pledge to welcome 30,000 refugees in the next two years -- for that, it must be applauded. The president has added that scrutiny of the individuals will be made foolproof to make sure that they do not pose a threat to the country which is also reasonable and necessary.

The challenges that Europe will be dealing with in the next few years are exceptionally difficult. In France alone, Muslims make up 7.5 per cent of the population. It is expected that, after factoring in the impact of immigration and population growth, France will have 6.9 million Muslims in 2030, making for an increase of nearly 150 per cent given that the Muslim population stood at 4.7million in 2010.

Successful integration and assimilation of the community will continue to be an issue of concern in the times to come. Even back in 2011, the community responded strongly to laws that banned displaying religious symbols in school -- for some conservative Muslims, this meant giving up the burka and the hijaab. It is an issue of grave concern that according to The Guardian, about half of the more than 3,000 Europeans who have travelled to join the ISIS are from France. France’s incarceration system, too, deserves some thought and introspection.

Despite repeated reassurances that normal life will resume in France, Europe’s open borders are bound to become a thing of the past. The political right in Europe has criticised the continent’s ‘passport-free zone’ (as guaranteed by the Schengen agreement) going far enough to blame the immigration policies for the terrorism problem. Yet, the fact that at least at the state level, besides Poland, EU members have made the distinction between terrorists and refugees offers some relief at the moment.

The coming days will require a great degree of poise and prudence, especially as swift and unsympathetic action against the aggressors and their sympathisers is the need of the hour. Parallels may be drawn between post-9/11 US, and France today, especially due to the manner in which individual liberties -- which have been under attack over the last ten months more than once, will currently be limited by the state to preserve the country’s traditional values in the long-run.

Though the end is worth risking everything for at least in the short and medium term, it can also prove to be a slippery slope.