The most recent terrorist attack in the west has occurred in Brussels, Belgium, the heart and center of Europe. Not only geographically central to mainland Europe, Brussels is a very culturally important city, it is also home to the European Union. However the individuals did not attack the EU headquarters, they attacked the means of tourism, where they knew there would be purely civilian targets. The attackers thought methodically, attempting to hit Belgium where it hurt the most, and therefore sending a message to Europe as a whole. Not to the world's surprise, there has since been disclosed that the attacks in Brussels, were directly connected to the Attacks in Paris, and that the same bomb maker was actually responsible for both of the attacks. Although there are some clear indicators as to why these individuals, who were Isis affiliated, would target Belgium's capitol, it seems unclear to some as to why they would not target a larger city, like London. Here are some reasons why Brussels, was the target for these attacks.
1. Its location.
Not only does Brussels hold the headquarters for the European Union, it is also close to the major cities of Europe, and therefore serves as a sort of "hub" for transportation between the cities. Along with this, it is especially easy for travelers to move between cities, and countries due to the open border policy of the Schengen Agreement/Amsterdam Treaty under the European Union. This makes it somewhat hard for nations to monitor who is going into and out of their countries, and therefore cities, especially with the vast amount of tourists traveling through the city daily.
2. Bad relations with police within Brussels sub communities.
The relationship between the people within the minority communities, and the police/ local government has been recognized as an issue after the attacks in France last year. One of the largest issues here is that there simply are not enough officers to patrol the areas where there are terror cells. For this reason some are blaming Belgium police forces and governments for the failure to monitor the situation in these areas. Along with this, these neighborhoods tend to have bad community relations, as well as bad relations with local government officials. They tend to keep to themselves, and seem to feel marginalized. This allows them to create bombs, and plan attacks completely undetected.
3. Belgium has a high population of seemingly marginalized young people, and jihadists.
For a seemingly number of reasons, more young men are leaving Belgium to join Isis, more than any other European Country. This is due to the fact that Belgium's youth population feels marginalized, as well as due to the fact that they are being targeted and "recruited" by ISIS, while they are living in an environment where they do not feel completely accepted, nor do they seem to have the capability to work against this oppressive and highly violent terrorist organization.
