According to U.S. and Yemeni officials, Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan have been killed in an airstrike. Awlaki was the spiritual leader of the English-speaking jihadi community and Samir Khan was its chief propagandist. Both men joined al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula over the past few years and have been responsible for producing al-Qaeda’s English-language [...]
Archive for the ‘propaganda’ Category
English-Speaking Jihadis Lose Principal Propagandists
Posted: 30th September 2011 by Will McCants in al-Qaida on the Arabian Peninsula, propaganda7
Strategic Theory of the Second Generation of Jihadis
Posted: 3rd August 2011 by Will McCants in propaganda, Recruitment, StrategyThree days ago, Abu Hafs al-Sunni al-Sunni, a member of the Atahadi forum, posted an article he titled, “The Strategic Theory of the Second Generation of Jihadis: Propagandistic Foundations and Operational Methods.” Despite the title, it is less about strategy and operations and more about the public relations problems plaguing the jihadis. Here are his main [...]
Al-Qaeda Is Making a Cartoon
Posted: 18th July 2011 by Will McCants in al-Qaida on the Arabian Peninsula, propaganda, RecruitmentAccording to a member of the Shmukh jihadi forum, the media wing of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is making a cartoon. I haven’t seen anything like this before and I am very skeptical that it is a real product. But if it’s legit and anywhere near like the purported screen shots and promotional banner [...]
The Limits of Gamification
Posted: 25th April 2011 by Will McCants in Jihad culture, propaganda, RecruitmentJarret and Alix have published an intriguing article in Foreign Policy on how jihadi ideologues and forum administrators are deliberately applying gaming principles to their discussion boards and propaganda. The jihadis are doing so to encourage their readers to compete with one another to embody the community’s ethos and take direct action. That’s a new [...]
From the Pen to the Sword
Posted: 3rd January 2011 by Joas Wagemakers in Afghanistan, AQ Central, Better Know a Forum, Jordan, propaganda, terrorismOne of the things that struck me about the Stockholm bomber, Taimour Abdalwahhab, was that he was apparently active on the internet as a radical before he decided to engage in actual terrorism (see Thomas’ posts below for more details). This transition reminded me of a similar but much more serious process by someone who [...]
Inspire 2
Posted: 12th October 2010 by Thomas Hegghammer in Jihadi journals, Jihadi media, propaganda, YemenThe second issue of the English-language jihadi magazine Inspire is out. Dina Temple-Raston, Jarret Brachman and Memri have already made some initial observations, but I’ll throw in my own for what they’re worth. For a start, the second issue confirms that the magazine is produced out of Yemen by Samir Khan, the online propagandist who was based in the United States [...]
Quilliam Report
Posted: 27th September 2010 by Thomas Hegghammer in Better Know a Forum, Ideological trends, Jihadi media, propaganda, Recruitment, technologyThe Quilliam Foundation, a London based think tank, has released a very interesting new report by Muhammad Ali Musawi titled Cheering for Osama: How Jihadis Use Discussion Forums. It is one of the best introductions to the world of online jihadism that I have seen. It also points out some recent forum trends that should [...]
Un-Inspired
Posted: 6th July 2010 by Thomas Hegghammer in al-Qaida on the Arabian Peninsula, propaganda, Western Analysts, YemenInternational media have been in a frenzy recently over the publication of an English-language jihadi magazine entitled Inspire. The magazine – available here (beware of possible virus) – appears to be the work of the Yemen-based group al-Qaida on the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The magazine features the logo of the “al-Malahim foundation”, AQAP’s media arm, [...]