Crisis gathers momentum - Are we sure of peace in our time?

The scale of civic and social collapse across the Middle East, where societies, countries, and governments fall like autumn leaves, the escalating savagery of Islamic fundamentalists, their determined genocide against Christians, the helplessness of a world equally dumbfounded and disinterested and the never-ending conflict between Israelis and Palestinians are coming together in a way that appears to have an almost unstoppable momentum.

The first steps towards autocracy, albeit endorsed by the ballot box, in Turkey and the iron rule of the generals in Egypt adds complexity to a critical situation. France’s decision to arm the Kurds “in the coming hours” adds to the sense that the crisis is approaching a point where it might not be contained.

Pictures of Islamic extremists campaigning openly on London streets trying to encourage British muslims go to the Middle East to join the terrorists trying to establish a caliphate — the polar opposite of the tolerant, inclusive western societies we cherish — add a new relevance to the crisis. This behaviour challenges a cornerstone of western democracies — the right to free speech. Should a society allow free speech when that great privilege is used to advocate its violent destruction? Hardly, unless it has lost all sense of self-confidence, self-belief, and self-preservation.