The fact that we in the west — the freest, most prosperous, best-governed and the most powerful peoples in history — anxiously regard a ragtag collection of bloodthirsty barbarians to be an existential threat speaks volumes about our divisions, our timorousness, our moral confusion and our pathetic lack of resolve.

A good part of beating bullies is just a matter of standing up to them, without even raising your hand. It tends to make them slink off. Sadly, the west can’t even summon the resolve to do that.