Countering violent extremist narratives

Eelco Kessels is editor of this compilation of articles. He also wrote the introduction.

The Expert Meeting ‘Counter-narratives and the performative power of counterterrorism’ was held on June 4 and 5 2009 in The Hague. It was organised by the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism in the Netherlands (NCTb) and the Centre for Terrorism and Counterterrorism (CTC) at Campus The Hague of Leiden University, together with the British and the Canadian embassies in The Netherlands.

It brought together a group of approximately fifty academics, experts and government officials to discuss the issue of ‘counter-narratives’ and the extent to which they can and should be an appropriate means for countering modern terrorism, as well as to examine possible strategies to deploy this method in the future.

This compilation of articles reflects the ideas presented and discussed at the expert meeting. It is intended to stimulate and inform the policy debate regarding countering violent extremist narratives.