An Armed policeman is pictured after Manchester Arena bombing, in London, Britain, on May 23, 2017. (Xinhua/Tim Ireland)
Europe has found itself at the frontline in the fight against terrorism. The sight of armed soldiers on the streets of European cities has become all too familiar.
The spotlight has swung to Britain this time, but no-one in France, a country that has experienced several attacks in the past few years, is under the illusion that their country is completely safe.
Squads of soldiers with automatic weapons at the ready are a regular sight on the streets of Paris. Despite their presence, the French were reminded of the threat when police shot a man outside Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on Tuesday.
The suspect, a 40-year-old Algerian doctoral student, attacked an officer with a hammer while shouting "This is for Syria."
One worrying trend to emerge from the British attacks is that, in all three -- the Westminster Bridge and London Bridge killings in London and the attack in Manchester which also targeted children -- at least one of the perpetrators was known to the authorities.
As radicalization become ever more complex and multifaceted, many now agree that it is necessary to move beyond a mere cause-effect analysis and look at the problem from different angles.
One thing that deserves attention is the growing trend of domestic terrorism, or homegrown terrorism, in Europe.
Just over a year ago, the spotlight was on Brussels after a twin attack on the city's airport and metro left 32 people dead. It soon emerged that those responsible for the attack and the earlier Paris attacks, were based in the small Brussels suburb of Molenbeek. Some attackers were born and raised in Europe.
Asked about how to eradicate extremism, Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon said: "We have to sell our own values. We leave the door open to IS (the Islamic State) with their proposals. We have to be more convinced in presenting our own values and chances to youngsters who are maybe open to IS ideology."
After the Brussels attacks, the European Policy Centre and the Counter Extremism Project came together to launch a project to analyze the rise of radicalization in Europe and beyond and develop concrete policy recommendations.
They concluded that cooperation and intelligence sharing between member states, and between the European Union (EU) and its partners, was an "absolute must."
Equally important is that European governments have to take longer-term actions to integrate immigrant communities and give economic opportunities to those most vulnerable and marginalized people at risk of radicalization.
Lack of education and poverty were often regarded as drivers in the pathways of Europe-based extremists, experts said.
John Duhig, a senior counsellor at the European Foundation for Democracy, warned that attacks on "soft targets", like those seen in Britain, were more difficult to prevent, requiring less preparation and communication than more complex operations, and therefore more difficult for the authorities to detect.
"The threat of lone wolf attacks initiated by those who have never left Europe and have been radicalized online remains a significant threat," Duhig cautioned.
