Countering Daesh Propaganda: Action-Oriented Research for Practical Policy Outcomes Experts Workshop February 2016 Countering Daesh Propaganda: Action-Oriented Research for Practical Policy Outcomes Experts Workshop February 2016 One Copenhill 453 Freedom Parkway Atlanta, GA 30307 (404) 420-5100 www.cartercenter.org About The Carter Center The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide. A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, the Center has helped to improve life for people in 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportu nity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. Please visit www.cartercenter.org to learn more about The Carter Center. © 2016 by The Carter Center. All rights reserved. Contents Foreword Grassroots Perspectives: Ambassador (ret.) Mary Ann Peters ............4 Voices From the Ground A First-Person Narrative: From Introduction Recruiter to Challenger Houda Abadi ...............................5 Mubin Shaikh ..............................51 Brand Architecture Countering Extremist Propaganda “Look, Look; See the Glorious Fighters!”: With an Islamic Approach The Visual Persuasion of ISIS and Manal Omar ...............................55 the Fanboys of Terror A Dutch Perspective: History, Politics, David D. Perlmutter ..........................9 and Outcomes Visual Images: Distinguishing Sam Cherribi ...............................63 Daesh’s Internal and External The Settlement House Model of the Communication Strategies Arab-American Family Support Center Carol Winkler ..............................15 Ambreen Qureshi ...........................72 Filtering Meta-Narratives: Kompass–Muslim Youth Education: From Global to Local Empowerment and Prevention Aaron Y. Zelin ..............................20 Through Education Visual Imagery of the Islamic State Misbah Arshad .............................77 Cori E. Dauber .............................24 HAYAT Germany: The Paris Attacks: Terror and Recruitment A Programmatic Approach Jad Melki and Azza El-Masri .................28 Ava Linea ..................................81 Engaging With Religion Return and Reintegration Religious Diplomacy Best Practices: Rehabilitating and Bawa Jain ..................................34 Reintegrating Foreign Fighters Preventing the Synapse: Transmission Rohan Gunaratna ...........................84 of Daesh Religious Signals in Nigeria’s Response to Terrorism Search of Receivers Fatima Akilu. .93 Ebrahim Rasool. 38 Countering Daesh Recruitment Notes on Religion and Countering Propaganda Experts Workshop: Violent Extremism Participant Biographies .....................97 Muhammad Nuruddeen Lemu ...............43 Foreword Daesh, which needs no introduction, currently bloodiest attack since 2003, leaving more than 215 poses one of the greatest threats to global peace. dead. Under pressure and on the defensive, Daesh Daesh has capitalized on conditions conducive is intensifying its terrorism campaign by pressuring to the the spread of violent extremism, including its followers in the West to carry out attacks in the political vacuum created by failed states, their home countries. the failure of national governments to address To challenge and defeat Daesh’s recruitment socio-economic grievances, and the increasing propaganda machine, we must adopt nuanced alienation of Muslims in the West. An estimated strategies that address the socio-political issues 30,000 citizens from 100 countries have joined that are critical to the success and operational Daesh in Syria and Iraq. Libya is increasingly capabilities of Daesh. At The Carter Center, our becoming the new destination for foreign fighters. mission is to “wage peace” and “build hope.” Our Yet to date, discussions concerning how best initiative to counter Daesh propaganda wages to deal with Daesh’s violent ideology remain peace by working with grassroots religious and superficial. Increased militarization and the rise community leaders to provide them with a more of Islamophobia have spread in the wake of this nuanced understanding of sophisticated Daesh violent group. The debate needs to move beyond communication strategies, recommendations military options, and instead, adopt nuanced to delegitimize Daesh narratives, and effective approaches that will better diminish the allure of approaches to engage with alienated youth. Daesh’s violent actions and address the emotional This interdisciplinary guide is a collection of appeal that has been attracting foreign fighters. articles written by leading scholars and practi- In the last few months, we have witnessed a tioners who participated in the Carter Center’s series of deadly Daesh attacks outside its controlled February 2016 Countering Daesh Experts territory in Syria and Iraq, targeting Muslims and Workshop. These experts were brought together non-Muslims alike. This marks a new turn in its to identify new approaches to countering Daesh tactics aimed at diverting attention from its recent propaganda and to assist governments and battlefield losses and adjusting its military strate- religious/community leaders in deterring violent gies. The first week of July 2016 marked Baghdad’s extremism among their youth. Ambassador (ret.) Mary Ann Peters Chief Executive Officer, The Carter Center 4 Introduction Houda Abadi Associate Director, Conflict Resolution Program, The Carter Center This report contains articles presented at the their religious credibility. The Center will assist Countering Daesh Experts Workshop convened by religious and community leaders in understanding The Carter Center Feb. 22–24, 2016, in Atlanta, Daesh’s propaganda and in developing ways to Ga. The workshop brought together 21 leading counter the Daesh narrative. These efforts will scholars and practitioners from 10 different coun- include online and offline activities to raise aware- tries to discuss Daesh recruitment strategies and ness, social media training, mobilizing youth, and its use of social media technologies to appeal to education. Finally, the Center will inform and alienated youth. In addition to developing insights provide evidence-based recommendations as well into recruitment and social media use, the work- as inputs to regional and international government shop aimed to develop nuanced counternarratives actors for related policy measures and practical that engage religious resources, leaders, and insti- approaches to countering Islamophobia. tutions in peacebuilding in their local contexts The project addresses six problems: and to promote a deeper understanding of religion 1. The increasing use of media for extremist in conflict. propaganda purposes The Carter Center’s Approach to Countering 2. The information gap on Daesh recruitment Daesh Recruitment Propaganda strategies Since 2015, the Center has been working to 3. The lack of capacity and media resources of counter Daesh’s recruitment propaganda efforts by religious leaders to discredit Daesh ideology undertaking in-depth analysis of its videos, print, 4. Flaws of existing government measures to and social media publications. The Center has address radicalization developed a detailed coding methodology allowing 5. Women’s roles in prevention and recruitment for a structured analysis of the range of Daesh’s propaganda and branding efforts. These analytical 6. Return, reintegration, and rehabilitation metrics offer a more nuanced understanding of ways Daesh’s strategies vary by region, race, The Need for Countering Daesh and language. Recruitment Propaganda The Center is collaborating with media training Daesh has capitalized on the political vacuum institutions in Europe, the Middle East, North created by failed states and their inability to Africa, and the United States. In partnership address core socio-political grievances. The success with religious and community leaders, efforts are of Daesh’s recruiting efforts has become a major underway to identify the flaws in Daesh narra- challenge for the international community. In tives and to develop approaches to discredit its recruitment, Daesh has taken advantage of 5 young people’s feelings of disenfranchisement Countering Daesh Recruitment and marginalization by emphasizing the idyllic Propaganda Experts Workshop notion of “Islamic State” that supposedly addresses Carter Center workshop discussions centered on Muslim grievances across the globe. the supply of fighters; paths to extremism; and Daesh has developed a modern, technologically government responses, ranging from security to savvy brand, enabling its leadership to recruit community engagement models. Academics, prac- marginalized youth across borders. For Daesh, the titioners, and policy makers reviewed multiple case media battlefield is as important as the physical studies to illustrate the elasticity of Daesh’s appeal battlefield. The breadth of technology access with respect to the potential recruit’s background, and rapid communication across social media gender, age, culture, or location. applications are key components in its recruit- Participants agreed that Daesh-type ideolo- ment strategy. Increasingly, those countering the gies will continue to exist under different names, Daesh narrative understand the need to tap similar whether it be Boko Haram, Al-Qaeda, or Al communication mediums to disseminate counter- Shabab. Furthermore, counterrecruitment messages. The development and deployment