{"id":29762,"date":"2016-12-02T06:00:30","date_gmt":"2016-12-01T19:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=29762"},"modified":"2016-12-01T17:42:52","modified_gmt":"2016-12-01T06:42:52","slug":"islamic-state-reinventing-narrative-reality-bites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/islamic-state-reinventing-narrative-reality-bites\/","title":{"rendered":"The Islamic State: reinventing the narrative as reality bites"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

The so-called Islamic State recently released a new propaganda video featuring iconic images of Melbourne<\/a>, interspersed with explosions and IS fighters brandishing firearms in urban combat. What to make of such developments? Should Australia be worried?<\/p>\n

The first and most important thing to remember with any new video by IS or a similar group is that it\u2019s pure propaganda, and propaganda is the lifeblood of terrorists. So we need to look beyond the propaganda and what IS wants us to see, to understand what they\u2019re trying to do and why.<\/p>\n

Naming or showing specific locations isn\u2019t a new entry in the terrorist propaganda playbook. In 2011 Al Qaeda featured the Sydney Opera House<\/a> on the cover of its Inspire<\/em> magazine. In the September issue of the English-language version of its latest magazine, Rumiyah<\/em>, IS featured a rather unusual \u2018poem\u2019 including an apparently random list of Australian place names beginning with the letter B<\/a>, along with some iconic landmarks. The French, German and Bahasa Indonesian versions of the magazine included the same piece, but with local placenames. As all marketing professionals know, adding local culture and relevance is important to engage with your audience. IS hopes that this might inspire local sympathisers to carry out attacks in its name.<\/p>\n

Australia has been named as a terrorist target before. Al-Qaeda looked at conducting an attack during the 2000 Sydney Olympics<\/a>, and plots were uncovered to attack Holsworthy Barracks in Sydney and targets in Melbourne. The 10 Islamist terrorist plots disrupted by authorities in Australia in the past two years\u2014including the 2016 ANZAC plot in Melbourne\u2014show that the intent remains, but that authorities and businesses are alert to the threat and are working to safeguard against attacks.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve experienced four terrorist attacks during this time, but all at a very low level. Authorities will take this latest threat seriously, but they\u2019ll examine it in context, comparing it with other threat indicators and the intent and capability of local actors.<\/p>\n

The latest IS video tells us two things. First, the terrorist group\u2019s ability to direct attacks on these targets is limited, so it\u2019s instead looking to \u2018inspire\u2019 others to undertake attacks it can claim. Australia has experienced four such attacks in two years, none of which were directed by IS, but all of which it celebrated as its own.<\/p>\n

Second, the video demonstrates IS trying to distract both its supporters and the broader public from what\u2019s really happening to its so-called caliphate and self-declared \u2018holy war\u2019. The physical caliphate is essentially no more, having been diminished to a series of safe havens and outposts, and IS has lost the conventional military battle seen since 2014. IS has lost most of its territory and is in retreat, with military defeat likely in the coming year.<\/p>\n

The demise of IS as an ostensible \u2018state\u2019 highlights another important and interesting factor highlighted by the new video: IS is once again attempting to reinvent its image to compensate for its losses.<\/p>\n

Two and a half years ago, Baghdadi infamously proclaimed his so-called state<\/a> from Mosul\u2019s Great Mosque. Then, and through much of 2015, IS propaganda was dominated by images of the promised land of the \u2018caliphate\u2019, showing a comfortable lifestyle, complete with luxury homes and professions. IS offered would-be recruits a migration destination, with its territory differentiating it from its competitors in Islamist extremism.<\/p>\n

The latest video couldn\u2019t be more different. The environment is dusty and hard, with IS members shown fighting in the desert and villages, and undertaking attacks. That\u2019s IS attempting to change the narrative. It did that before, when the battle started to turn against it, proclaiming the forthcoming \u2018end of days\u2019 with a great battle. Now, as its territory disappears along with some of its supporters, the narrative is morphing a second time to show IS as a fairly standard small insurgency group focusing on attacks.<\/p>\n

In this video IS is saying that it\u2019s now focused just on doing what it can to mount small attacks, and it calls upon its supporters to do the same, wherever they are.<\/p>\n

IS will continue to focus on inciting and, if it can, directing attacks outside the Middle East to shore up its support base. Australia will remain a target. Some attacks will likely succeed. That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to continue to focus our efforts on removing IS\u2019 base in the Middle East and denying the opportunity that provides to build terrorist networks and skills.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The so-called Islamic State recently released a new propaganda video featuring iconic images of Melbourne, interspersed with explosions and IS fighters brandishing firearms in urban combat. What to make of such developments? Should Australia be …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":408,"featured_media":29767,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[273,895,1778,127],"class_list":["post-29762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-counterterrorism","tag-islamic-state","tag-propaganda","tag-terrorism"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Islamic State: reinventing the narrative as reality bites | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/islamic-state-reinventing-narrative-reality-bites\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Islamic State: reinventing the narrative as reality bites | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The so-called Islamic State recently released a new propaganda video featuring iconic images of Melbourne, interspersed with explosions and IS fighters brandishing firearms in urban combat. 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