Has Denmark really become a society like Israel or the United States, where huge security barriers have to be installed and extra security personnel deployed to ensure the safety of our embassies abroad?

The suicide bomber attack against our embassy in Islamabad is the first of its kind against a small and peaceful Scandinavian society like ours. We can all share the immediate reaction of our political leaders, who condemn this attack of wanton violence against innocent people. Nothing can justify it, we rightly say.

But it has nevertheless happened.

The comparison with the United States or Israel was actually made immediately after the attack by a prominent member of the Danish People´s Party here in Copenhagen, who suggested that the government should deploy special forces abroad to prevent future attacks.

The comparison is of course exaggerated: We have not been at war with our neighbours for a long time, we do not defend ourselves by occupying Palestine, and we are not a global superpower with the enemies and responsibilities that entails. The comparison is exaggerated, but not groundless. We were part of the invasion of Iraq, we have fighting troops in Afghanistan, we were at the centre of the cartoon affair in 2006 and again earlier this year, and the government recently banned religious headscarves in our courts after an islamophobic campaign by its parliamentary partner, the Danish Peoples Party.

Nothing justifies violence against innocents. It is nevertheless appropriate to reflect on the policies and developments in society that have led to the current situation. We must clearly be willing to die for our values, and to protect our society. But are all the trends and policies that have recently made Denmark a more visible and controversial member of the international community really worth defending?

The immediate reaction to mindless and horrifying terrorism is, and must be, defiance and condemnation. Madmen who kill are easy to unite against. But uniting against them will not make them disappear. For Denmark, there must be better long term solutions than despatching security forces abroad to defend our diplomats.