The people who become terrorists are those who have no jobs, few opportunities or little hope. Often they are simply lost. Or they are petty criminals seeking to justify their lives.
But largely, they are people who would turn to anything else first if anyone turned to them and offered them a better chance.
That’s why of all of President Barack Obama’s actions last week after the Paris attacks, the most striking to me was his townhall meeting with a group of college kids at Taylor’s University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
I’m lucky to have travelled to that country a few years ago to experience that country’s wonderful mix of diversity.
By ethnicity, the breakdown is mostly Asian: Malay, 50 percent; Chinese, 23 percent; Asian Indian 7 percent; and 12 percent indigenous.
But the real diversity comes in its religious mix: Muslim, 61 percent; Buddhist, 20 percent; Christian, 9.2 percent; Hindu, 6.3 percent; and Confucianism, Taoism, 1 percent.
