LONDON -- The bomb outrage and mass slaughter of train commuters in Madrid on March 11 has changed the face of European politics in more ways than one.
The more obvious and visible outcome is a sharply increased determination among the European nations to cooperate on antiterrorist measures, including the appointment of a supremo to oversee the scene. This makes sense as long as it remains a purely administrative and practical effort, and does not get bogged down in political posturing or in squabbles among the numerous different national policing and intelligence agencies.
If heads can be knocked together throughout the European region, the chances of tracking an enemy that knows no frontiers and respects no sovereign state should improve. If the pooling of information can be extended worldwide, that will be better still. Terrorism is now a globally networked phenomenon that demands a globally coordinated riposte.