After the horror at Nice, perhaps the most depressing comment came from France’s prime minister. Calling for unity in the face of terror, Manuel Valls observed: “Times have changed, and we should learn to live with terrorism. We have to show solidarity and collective calm.”

If this sounds like resignation, it shouldn’t. Valls is no squish. After the Charlie Hebdo attack in January 2015, he told the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg that accusations of “Islamophobia” were too often used to silence legitimate criticism of political Islam.

What’s more, France has been under a state of emergency since November, when Islamic State operatives went on a murder spree in Paris. In practice this has meant the state has monitored the communications of thousands of young Muslims, searched their homes and businesses without a warrant and used its national army to defend soft targets.