"Why does it look like the level of fear in Western Europe is so much higher today than in the 1970s and 1980s?" I can only answer for Germany, but I doubt the

"Why does it look like the level of fear in Western Europe is so much higher today than in the 1970s and 1980s?" I can only answer for Germany, but I doubt the level of fear was lower at the height of the RAF in the 70s/80s. There were fewer deaths than in, say, Paris, and the attacks were concentrated mostly at businessmen and politicians. Yet there was a very widespread fear in the late 70s and early 80s, and pretty desperate measures as well (google "Berufsverbot" - people in communist parties were forbidden to work in certain professions).