Terrorism: It's a problem that no one can agree on how to solve. The past few years have plagued the western world with numerous attacks from various extremist groups, leaving thousands of innocent civilians dead or injured. Naturally, safety concerns are a high priority considering more than 20 major terrorist attacks have been carried out this year alone. But how are world leaders intending to tackle these safety threats in order to bring about some positive change?

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich had plenty to contribute in the wake of the recent Bastille Day attack in Nice, France. He told Fox News about his strategy to "test every person (in the United States) who is of a Muslim background," including current U.S. citizens.

"Western civilization is in a war ... if they believe in Shariah, they should be deported. Shariah is not compatible with western civilization."

To be clear, NBC News describes Shariah as "a legal code based on the Quran and other Islamic scriptures."

Gingrich's plan echoes the ideas of Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has forcefully promoted the idea of enforcing strict borders that keep all Muslims, particularly Syrian refugees, out of the west.

So where exactly would the U.S. be sending these so-called dangerous radicals? Studies show that policies like those of Gingrich and Trump are directing people right into the hands of the enemy.

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, first-world western countries are providing more ISIS fighters than Middle Eastern nations with predominantly Muslim populations. Their research concludes that it is neither poverty nor exposure to Islamic culture, but rather cultural alienation that drives the majority of ISIS fighters from the west in order to become radicalized. In other words, creating a fear of Muslims in the name of protecting our citizens is actually exasperating the problem further.

With this type of anti-Muslim rhetoric comes to a never-ending cycle of justifying hate with terrorism. In the above video, Donald Trump asserts his plan to ban Muslim immigration as a means of halting terror activity. This proposal came directly after the December 2015 massacre in San Bernardino, California, that left 14 people dead.

Since that speech, both ISIS and Al-Shabaab (a group associated with Al-Qaida) have utilized Trump's words in their recruitment videos aimed directly at "Muslims of the West." Even worse, ISIS has now claimed responsibility for terrorist attacks in Brussels, Istanbul, Orlando, and many more. In those three attacks alone, 126 civilian lives were lost and nearly 600 were left injured.

Western politicians like Trump have seemingly created a Catch-22 for international terrorism: the more they isolate innocent Islamic citizens (emphasis on the word "citizens"), the more senseless violence we face from these radical groups. When does the cycle stop?

Trump is correct in stating that terrorism "is only getting worse." His anti-Muslim-is-anti-terrorism strategy, however, is far less sound. Let this be a message to world leaders, especially those in the west: Spreading hate is never the answer. Fight ISIS, not Islam.