“AMONG THE BELIEVERS ARE MEN” THE ROLE OF RELIGIOUS-NATIONALIST IDENTITY AND RELIGIOUS LITERACY IN ISLAMIC STATE RECRUITMENT EFFORTS IN THE WEST By NATHAN CRAIG MIKAMI A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY School of Politics, Philosophy, & Public Affairs MAY 2019 © Copyright by NATHAN CRAIG MIKAMI, 2019 All Rights Reserved © Copyright by NATHAN CRAIG MIKAMI, 2019 All Rights Reserved To the Faculty of Washington State University: The members of the Committee appointed to examine the dissertation of NATHAN CRAIG MIKAMI find it satisfactory and recommend that it be accepted. _______________________________ Martha L. Cottam, Ph.D., Chair _______________________________ J. Thomas Preston, Ph.D. _______________________________ Ashly Adam Townsen, Ph.D. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENT Thinking of all the people I should thank and acknowledge is almost as daunting a task as writing this dissertation, but I will do my best. I first want to thank the professors and staff at WSU, especially the members of my committee, Tom and Ashly, for their mentorship, particularly in seminars where the ideas for this dissertation were born. And I want to acknowledge Martha, my committee chair, for always reading my materials, providing feedback, and for guiding me through my entire graduate student career. I also want to thank my fellow graduate students, especially my cohort (Brittany, Flint, Julia, Josh, Mohammad and Sam), without whom I would likely not have passed matriculation exams, prelims, or any of my seminars. Well, I probably would have, it just would have been a lot harder and not nearly as enjoyable. I also want to thank all the educators who have influenced me throughout my life and academic career. From the elementary school teachers who got me excited about ancient Rome and Egypt, to my high school teachers who instilled in me a love of the arts and humanities. They will never know the positive influence they have had on me. Finally, I could not have done this without my family and friends. I am extremely lucky to have made life-long friends who are supportive and always there to lend a helping hand. You know who you are, probably. I also have awesome, supportive sisters and siblings-in-law: Michelle, Kimi, Ash, Ian, Tyler, Mark, Matt, Hillary, Scott, and Katie. I love you guys. A special thanks to my sister Michelle, for being my copy-editor and no-nonsense-feedback-giver for everything I’ve written in graduate school. For the past ten years I have had a second set of wonderful and supportive parents, Bill and Janet, to whom I am extremely grateful. iii My mother, Sherri, and father, Craig, have loved, supported, and encouraged me my entire life, without whom I would not have accomplished much of anything. And I also want to thank my grandparents and great-grandparents who sacrificed so much to build our families and set inspiring examples of hard work and academic achievement. I have to thank and acknowledge my amazing kids, Olive and Iris. They are the lights of my life, and they inspire me to accomplish all that I can. And finally, I want to thank my wife, Robyn. She is the rock on which this dissertation, and my life, is built; I could not have accomplished anything without her love and support. She has truly experienced every aspect of graduate school right along with me, and I look forward to sharing with her all of the post- dissertation experiences that life has to offer. iv “AMONG THE BELIEVERS ARE MEN” THE ROLE OF RELIGIOUS-NATIONALIST IDENTITY AND RELIGIOUS LITERACY IN ISLAMIC STATE RECRUITMENT EFFORTS IN THE WEST Abstract by Nathan Craig Mikami, Ph.D. Washington State University May 2019 Chair: Martha L. Cottam This research explores two facets of Islamic State recruitment efforts. First, it examines role of religious-national identity in the Islamic State’s attempt to appeal to alienated and marginalized Muslims living in Western societies; and second, it explores the relationship between an individual’s level of religious literacy/knowledge and the proclivity to join the Islamic State and/or engage in extremist behaviors. I have conducted this research using a mixed-methods approach to test theoretically grounded expectations about the quantitative and qualitative attributes of religious-national content found in the Islamic State’s English-language magazine Dabiq; as well as various hypotheses pertaining to the relationship between religious literacy and the potentially extreme and violent behaviors of Islamic State recruits. This research provides a theoretical framework for understanding these phenomena, as well as empirical data that allows for testing previously unproven assumptions about ISIS recruits. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENT............................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................... x LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................... xi CHAPTERS CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1 1.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Structure ........................................................................................................................ 4 CHAPTER TWO: RELIGION & TERRORISM ................................................................ 6 2.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 6 2.2. Terrorism........................................................................................................................ 6 2.3. What Makes a Terrorist? ................................................................................................ 7 2.3.1. Top-Down Approaches: Gender Roles and Patriarchal Explanation .............. 8 2.3.2. Bottom-Up Approaches: Psychological Explanations...................................... 9 2.4. Religion .......................................................................................................................... 10 2.5. The Relationship Between Religion and Terrorism: Does Religion Matter? ................ 12 2.5.1. Religious Belief and Support for Terrorism...................................................... 15 2.5.2. Religious Doctrine and Terrorism .................................................................... 16 CHAPTER THREE: THE ISLAMIC STATE...................................................................... 20 3.1. ISIS: A Brief History ..................................................................................................... 20 3.2. Who Joins ISIS? ............................................................................................................. 22 vi CHAPTER FOUR: RELIGIOUS-NATIONALISM & THE ISLAMIC STATE .............. 27 4.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 27 4.2. Social Identity Theory.................................................................................................... 27 4.3. Nations & National Identity ........................................................................................... 29 4.4. Religious Identity ........................................................................................................... 31 4.5. Religious-Nationalism and the Islamic State: A Theoretical Framework ..................... 32 4.5.1. Religious-National Identity .................................................................................... 40 4.5.2. Religious-Nationalists: Patterns of Behavior and Attitudes .................................. 44 4.6. Design ............................................................................................................................ 47 4.6.1. Why Dabiq? ........................................................................................................... 48 4.6.2. Analysis of Textual Content ................................................................................... 49 4.6.3. Analysis of Image Content ..................................................................................... 52 4.7. Results: Textual and Image Content Analysis of Dabiq ................................................ 54 4.7.1. Introduction............................................................................................................ 54 4.7.2. Textual Content Analysis: Results ......................................................................... 55 4.7.3. Image Content Analysis: Results ........................................................................... 62 4.7.4. General Trends and Key Events ............................................................................ 66 4.8. Analysis: Patterns and Characteristics of Religious-Nationalists .................................. 80 4.8.1. Religious-Nationalist Patterns / Characteristics:1 ................................................ 80 4.8.2. Religious-Nationalist Patterns / Characteristics:2 ...............................................