The Sunday Magazine

Paul Rogers on Paris attacks: making sense of the senseless

When events defy our attempts to make sense of the world, we at The Sunday Edition turn to Paul Rogers, Professor of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom.
Soldiers wait before picking up their gear at the Charles de Gaulle airport, north of Paris, as part of a security reinforcements, Saturday, Nov.14, 2015. (Credit: AP Photo/Michel Spingler)

Forty-eight hours ago, Paris was on a lot of minds around the world. It represented hope for millions of people, hope that an effective global climate treaty finally would be hammered out at the United Nations conference opening at the end of the month. 

Hours later, that sense of hope was overwhelmed by horror, disbelief, despair and grief - and climate change was far from our minds. Instead, we felt solidarity with Parisians and their dead.  And we felt a need to understand how this could have happened, and what could happen next.

When global events defy our attempts to make sense of the world, we at The Sunday Edition often turn to Paul Rogers. He is Professor of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom, and his books include A War on Terror, Afghanistan and AfterWhy We're Losing the War on Terror, and Losing Control: Global Security in the 21st Century.