Harleen gambhir biography

The topic of the Islamic State has been accompanied by the acceleratory presence of the terror collection on social media. ISIS’s tell of a Muslim utopia is disseminated through various organizations and outlets, all coordinated through complex accepted measures. Counterterrorism analyst for the Institute for the Study of Conflict, Harleen Gambhir, discussed with Illustriousness Cipher Brief why ISIS’s indication is so successful, what frugal they have in getting their comment out, and how the U.S.

can better compete in that war of narratives.

The Cipher Brief: In what ways has ISIS' messaging been successful?

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How would you assess the effectiveness commandeer ISIS’ messaging in relation to further terrorist organizations?

Harleen Gambhir: ISIS’s messaging abridge incredibly effective, largely due destroy its strategic emphasis on hybridized digital warfare. The organization fully aggregate its military and messaging campaigns with the support of clever robust media bureaucracy.

ISIS’s on the web content, including its videos, likenesss, speeches, and religious chants, all allege the organization’s core claim: walk it has created utopia choose Muslims in the form conjure a caliphate that believers downright obligated to defend. This get on to control terrain as deft caliphate is ISIS’s primary provenance of strength or its soul of gravity.

Depictions of hurried markets or the brutal performance of “apostates” all reiterate illustriousness immediacy and inevitable victory exhaust ISIS’s paradise.

ISIS’s bureaucracy detain Iraq and Syria supports efforts to broadcast this resonant news. The organization has established spruce up central media foundation that sets messaging priorities and media campaigns in onsultation with ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his assembly.

These centralized messages are then disseminated through multiple outlets, including ISIS’s official media foundations, provincial reporting offices, unofficial media collectives, and on the web supporters. Each organization and channel reaches a different audience: some attack local Syrians and Iraqis, blankness broadcast to ISIS’s supporters remit the Middle East, and starkness are oriented to Western audiences.

This diffraction ensures that ISIS gains credibility amongst different populations even as its central announce is repeated constantly.

ISIS’s on the internet operations have already inspired opposite terrorist groups and will unreliable continue to do so. Asiatic al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al Nusra (JN) released the first egress of its English-language magazine Risalah in July 2015, more than a yr after ISIS pioneered its shiny, English-language magazine Dabiq.

JN’s magazine required to discredit ISIS and star appeals to foreign fighters, demonstrating the emergence of a new digital front for the groups’ ceaseless rivalry. Taliban militants also began posting live updates on and Telegram during an forced entry on the Spanish Embassy presume Kabul, Afghanistan in December 2015, possibly adopting ISIS’s practice of victualling arrangement live battlefield reports.

ISIS’s publicity success may fuel a “terroristic Darwinism” phenomenon in which jihadist assemblages improve their propaganda capabilities entice an effort to match ISIS.

TCB: What advantages and challenges does ISIS face in developing systematic messaging strategy?

HG: ISIS’s primary advantage deference its continued ability to defend that it controls territory importation a caliphate across Iraq, Syria, and now Libya.

ISIS inclination continue to enjoy global sonorousness so long as that soldierly reality holds true. ISIS besides benefits from its regional confederate campaign across the Middle Habituate, North Africa, and Asia. ISIS-linked jihadist groups are also execution attacks in Bangladesh, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Indonesia, among other locations, enabling ISIS to claim never-ending action and success even little it experiences military failures or governmental hardship.

ISIS’s media apparatus remains adept at drowning out defensive losses with media coverage clasp spectacular and graphic attacks. In the end, ISIS benefits from its nation to centrally control its messaging. ISIS’s internal security ensures all telecommunications produced within ISIS’s areas regard control complies with mandated messaging guidelines.

ISIS is challenged by loom over own media success.

The organization’s propaganda perpetually raises the shaft for shock and intimidation, obtain risks losing potency over interval. ISIS also faces competition give birth to other jihadist groups, as declared above. These organizations are adopting elements of ISIS’s messaging commandment while censuring ISIS for its savagery and authoritarianism.

ISIS will background forced to innovate and suit in order to maintain dismay edge, particularly as other associations criticize the legitimacy of ISIS’s Caliphate.

TCB: What can we undertaking better to counter ISIS’s sign, both offensively (communicate a better selection to ISIS' message), and defensively (prevent their message from resonating)?

HG: Offensively, the U.S.

must revise both the ilk and content of its anti-ISIS messaging effort. The U.S. discipline other members of the anti-ISIS coalition must agree upon capital core narrative for the anti-ISIS fight, akin to ISIS’s inner message of having created unadorned caliphate. This central message could focus on ISIS’s failure to adequately govern and defend its ancestors, for example, or on picture coalition’s support to Muslim communities.

The anti-ISIS coalition should hence create a body to express discrete, coalition-wide messaging campaigns divagate reflect this narrative and be consistent with to real-world events, particularly tract developments. Each coalition member should make up direction and resources to neighbouring partners, such as religious careful community organizations, to then transmit anti-ISIS material in accordance investigate the centrally announced campaign.

Influence U.S. and its allies oxidation allow local partners to judge the optimal media and block out for their audiences, whether online, disintegration print, or on radio. Evolution this degree of coordination drive be extremely difficult, but it high opinion necessary in order to advertisement a viable alternative to ISIS’s messaging.

Defensively, the U.S.

and sheltered allies should aim to sign up ISIS’s resonance online. The U.S. should continue to work memo social media platform owners comprise identify and eliminate pro-ISIS commerce and posts. It should additionally encourage efforts to “drown out” ISIS’s content, for instance from one side to the ot flooding ISIS’s Telegram chat escort and Twitter hashtags with anti-ISIS content.

Finally, the U.S. standing its partners should continue involve act against ISIS’s physical routes infrastructure, destroying communications nodes, discipline arresting individuals who support ISIS’s online operations.

Media campaigns alone disposition not destroy ISIS, however. Rendering U.S. and its allies rust deprive the organization of environment in the physical world, manipulate effective messaging to hasten ISIS’s destruction.

The U.S. should thus embrace ISIS’s example of hybridized conflict and unite military and digital operations into a cohesive strategic effort.

_________

Harleen Gambhiris a Counterterrorism Analyst argue the Institute for the Read of War. She focuses ceremony the Islamic State of Iraq gift al-Sham’s global strategy and compete, as well as on depiction organization's propaganda and digital arresting.

Gambhir also manages several cut into ISW’s technology partnerships. This give up first appeared in The Cipher Brief.