Presented during the 2017 Presidential Peace Conference in Atlanta. Track C, Session 2: The Carter Center, Peacebuilding in a Rapidly Changing World

1. Rethinking the Role of the Media and PVE/CVE: Daesh as a
Case-Study
Dr. Houda Abadi
The Carter Center

2. “Half the battlefield is the media field”
Daesh has built a multifaceted, charismatic, modern,
and sophisticated brand. To counter Daesh we first have
to deconstruct it.

3. Appeals to the Youth

4. Daesh Propaganda Strategies
 Cultural codes
 Emotional appeals
 Hyper Local
 Banks of Grievances
 Provide Alternatives
 Fun, easy
 Humor
 Rely on visual, textual, and Audio
 Relational Networks

5. The Visual Turn

6. Infographics: Simple Messages

7. Dialectics of Online and Offline

8. Video Narrative Data, Max Territory vs Current Holdings
12%
6%
34%
15%
12%
4%
17%
Video Master Narratives
Early 2015 (n=77)
Humiliation of the
Ummah/Historical Grevances
Humiliating the West
Military "jihad" narrative
Providing Social Services
Hypocrisy of Muslim Sheikh or
MENA Leaders
Religious Narrative
Law and Order/Administer
Territory
6%
5%
55%
6%
5%
16%
7%
Video Master Narratives
Early 2017 (n=67)
Humiliation of the
Ummah/Historical Grevances
Humiliating the West
Military "jihad" narrative
Providing Social Services
Hypocrisy of Muslim Sheikh or
MENA Leaders
Religious Narrative
Law and Order/Administer
Territory

9. Five major problems:
1. Mystification of Daesh as unique and beyond ordinary VE
2. Polarizing rhetoric and decontextualizing conflict events
3. Daesh’s media events feeding into media news cycle
4. Cherry picking the type of terrorist events covered
5. Who do we get to call terrorists? Mentally ill?
Mainstream Media: Serving Daesh’s Objectives

10. Past Efforts from Religious Leaders Aimed
at Countering Daesh Propaganda
Successes
Credible and legitimate
religious voices
Vocal against Daesh: Speak
with authority, logic, piety and
profound religious conviction
Usage of variety of social
media platforms
Challenges
Dense, hyper-rational
and devoid of emotional
appeals
Not using online space
effectively : no interactivity
Less circulation and
frequency
Lack of hyperlocal
emotional appeals-
traditional communication

11. I. Action Oriented analysis: Online and Offline
 Expert Daesh propaganda symposium
 Online 600 + videos
 Daesh print media magazines
 54 interviews and site visits of marginalized neighborhoods
II. Four Capacity Building Workshops with Religious/Community leaders
 religious/community leaders across political and ideological divides
 Mainstream and orthodox Salafi
 40% women
 Reiterative
 Twin approach to extremism
Our Approach: 2015-2017 in a glance

12. Rethinking PVE
1. Trust is the most important currency
2. Empower voices of women and youth in peace and security
3. Engage with mainstream and conservative religious leaders
4. Develop hyper-local media strategies
5. Draw on rigorous and locally rooted research
6. Move beyond counter-narratives: counteroffers
7. Need for rehabilitation and reintegration programming
8. Twin approach to extremism: Daesh and Islamophobia

13. Thank you
Questions?