Unlike the attacks on Paris, reasons pertaining to yesterday’s suicide bomb attacks in Brussels don’t quite have a clearcut explanation behind them. You see, the question “Why Brussels?” has a lot more behind it than a mere dislike or hatred against one culture. Belgium is a small country that is unable to deal with various aspects of what’s going on inside its borders. Here are some insights from various sources:

Matthew Levitt, director of the Washington Institute’s Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, outlines four contributing factors to Business Insider:

They have the largest number per capita of western foreign fighters from any country. Intelligence agencies historically focused on EU spying, and the country’s legal system doesn’t exactly help. It is a deeply divided government regionally, ethnically, linguistically. There are multiple parliaments. That makes communication across jurisdictions problematic. Further, there are limitations on what type of surveillance police can legally carry out.

A Belgian counter terror official put it plainly to BuzzFeed last week:

It’s literally an impossible situation and, honestly, it’s very grave. As a small country – it’s not quite as large as Maryland – we just don’t have the people to watch anything else and, frankly, we don’t have the infrastructure to properly investigate or monitor hundreds of individuals suspected of terror links, as well as pursue the hundreds of open files and investigations we have.

At the Independent, Lichfield writes:

The usual suspects are present (unemployment, discrimination), but they’re exacerbated by Belgium’s own divided identity as Dutch and French speakers have drifted further apart in the last two decades. Most Muslim youths in Britain or France do consider themselves British or French. It’s less clear-cut in Belgium, and the fractured nature extends to law enforcement and politics. Add to this the fact that Belgium has long been a clearing house for illegal arms deals and that its geographical situation makes it a perfect launch-pad for attacks on neighbouring countries.

[source: newser]