Although Switzerland has not experienced a large-scale attack of the kind experienced in other European countries in the last decade, the phenomenon of politico-ideological violence in the jihadist spectrum is nevertheless present. Since 2004 and until 2021, the Swiss Federal Criminal Court has tried a total of seventeen criminal proceedings related to jihadist terrorism cases. Most of these proceedings took place after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war. The most physical acts were attempts to travel to combat zones or activities related to foreign fighting.
The tactical level is worrisome, but it is not the priority of terrorism. The real success is at operational level: it is the “functional blockade”
Even when it fails, terrorism gains, in terms of the costs inflicted upon its target: it is successful as it can still impose economic and social costs on the community and influence the latter’s behaviour over time as a consequence of new security measures aimed at safeguarding the community: this effect is what we call the “functional blockade”, able to reach the average of 82% of the cases. The cost-benefit ratio is, no doubt, in favour of terrorism.