The world was shocked by the hideous violence that broke out in Norway, supposedly one of the most peaceful countries in the world. The event would not surprise us as much had it taken place in the US, where gun violence is unceasing.

Since the 9/11 attacks, the US has spearheaded world-wide anti-terrorist campaigns.  However, the acts of the self-styled defender of human rights and justice spawned more violence. George W. Bush had a slip of the tongue when he used the word "crusades" to describe the war on terror, and it reminds us that the hostility between Christians and Muslims over the millennium has hardly changed, despite civilization's progress.

Violence, wars and genocide are still the primary means to settle most conflicts in today's world. However, common values have zero tolerance for violence. No political parties or organizations dare to admit violence as their ultimate goal, and all opposing sides at war will invariably raise the banner of justice and resistance against oppression and aggression, and claim that ending violence is their noble aim when waging wars.

We certainly need to differentiate just and unjust wars, but humanity has no room for brutality. We are faced with the perennial dilemma of how to break the vicious circle of responding to violence with more violence.

I went to Auschwitz last year. The Nazis justified the Holocaust with seamless instrumental rationality, managing the camps in strict accordance with the economic principles of maximizing profit with utmost efficiency. On site, my vision was blurred as to the boundary between the concepts of the modern business school and the Nazi's instrumental rationality.

Of course, their fundamental difference lies in violence and non-violence. However, the Frankfurt School philosophers' critique of modernity's fetish of rationalism still resonates today. After all, the trauma of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Asian genocide committed by the Japanese warlords during the World War II can not be entirely explained by modern rationalism.

Norway's violent incident teaches us that no one today is immune to violence, and China is no exception. As China is charging forward at the dazzling (sometimes dangerous) speed, social consensus decreases rapidly, while social fragmentation and polarization increase daily. As a result, violence in China today is no longer restricted to terrorists attacks in Tibet or Xinjiang, such as the two deadly attacks Saturday in Kashi, Xinjiang.

China has irrevocably entered what Ulrich Beck calls the modern "risk society" with multiple, diverse, and often opposing social values and interests. China must keep establishing the rule of law and a just society as its ultimate goals but will have to deal with the reality of a high-risk, more volatile social life with frequent violent incidents.

In China, there are extremists like Norway's Breivik, and there is no lack of breeding grounds for groups like the Taliban and Al Qaeda. China has never labeled itself as being an absolutely peaceful or a perfect country. Its legal system is far from perfect, the imbalance between the over-sized state power and weak civil society is staggering, and these all have impact on the growing number of violent incidents.

No matter how lofty the excuse for violence is, it will encourage more irrationality. China is at the forefront of the storm of globalization, bearing the brunt of all problems that globalization entails. We must remain vigilant against any Chinese versions of Taliban and fundamentalism, and at the same time avoid blind faith in Western-style liberal democracy.

Any violent abuses of state power must be curbed. Likewise, any anti-government violence cannot be exempted. China cannot tolerate violence; neither can the world.

The objects of violence are often misplaced, just like some Israeli nationalists wrongly targeted the Muslim world, or Al Qaeda the people in the Twin Towers of New York City. How can we forget the innocent young Norwegian victims?

The author is director of China Research Center, Duke University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn

Rage inevitable when popular power has no other outlet