Expert panel: Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE)

On 11 October 2018 at the Volkshaus in Zurich, international experts discussed their experiences with the concept of preventing violent extremism (PVE) at an event organized by the CSS, the Embassy of Canada to Switzerland and the Embassy of the Netherlands in Switzerland. Phil Gurski, former long-time strategic analyst for the Canadian intelligence community, Ko Minderhood, team leader at the counterterrorism unit of the Dutch police and Carol Mottet, advisor to the Human Security Division of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), agreed that the early prevention of extremist trends has to begin at the local level. They also noted that for PVE efforts, international cooperation is indispensable. Further, one of the biggest issues is the challenge involved in determining the extent to which PVE-strategies are successful. The CSS’ Owen Frazer moderated the panel.