Paper presenters
- General overview of the evolution of the collection of jihadi primary source documents and the open-source study of this material - Brian Dodwell / Don Rassler
- Islamic State Khorasan: Inside the Emergence of a Wilayat - Brian Dodwell / Don Rassler
- Amaq News Agency: The Islamic State’s Great Media Deception - Daniel Milton
- Female Guesthouses in the Islamic State - U.S. Government Researcher TBD
Symposia Concept:
While collection and exploitation of captured material has long been a key source of data and analysis on terrorist organizations, over the last decade the amount of material being recovered by the United States and its partners has evolved into a veritable flood, with it not being uncommon for a single counterterrorism operation to result in the discovery of a terabyte or more of varied forms of data (i.e. hard copies of correspondence, audio and video files, phone and digital messaging data, etc.) in multiple languages. This symposia / panel will highlight the opportunities presented by primary source material, but also address the challenges in collecting and exploiting these sources, as well as their limitations. Panelists will present research projects based on jihadi primary sources, with the dual goals of conveying the findings of their research to the audience, but also discussing their methodology and experiences working with this data.
General overview of the evolution of the collection of jihadi primary source documents and the open-source study
Brian Dodwell / Don Rassler, Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Islamic State Khorasan: Inside the Emergence of a Wilayat
Brian Dodwell / Don Rassler, Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
The Islamic State’s wilayat in Khorasan (ISK) has proven remarkably resilient in the face of sustained counterterrorism actions by the governments of the United States and Afghanistan. What are the factors that explain the resilience of this organization? Using a large number of primary source documents (letters, memos, etc.) captured from ISK, this project explains the group’s resilience through an examination of its successes and failures in the areas of governance, recruitment of fighters (local and foreign), funding, relations with the Islamic State core in Iraq and Syria, and media operations.
Amaq News Agency: The Islamic State’s Great Media Deception
Daniel Milton, Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract: While the Islamic State’s officially recognized media outlets such as Al-Hayat and its various regional media bureaus have played an important role in furthering the group’s image and narrative, another entity within the Islamic State’s media enterprise has played an equally public role, but has not been claimed by the organization itself as an official production node. This project relies on two types of primary source information, the group’s own media products and captured enemy documents, to explore the ways in which the Islamic State has utilized language, deniability, and centralized coordination to leverage Amaq News Agency as a key part of its overall information campaign.
Female Guesthouses in the Islamic State
U.S. Government Researcher TBD, Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract: The commencement of the Syrian civil war has led to a renewed focus on the topic of foreign fighters, especially in academic and government circles. However, comparatively less focus has been placed on the large number of women that transited the Islamic State’s territory in Syria. This lacuna has been filled by a media-driven narrative regarding the women traveling to the Islamic State as lacking agency and commitment. This narrative is exemplified by the use of the term “jihadi brides.” Using a series of registry logs from female guesthouses in Syria, this project presents an empirically based rebuttal to these arguments while at the same time offering new insights regarding this understudied element of the Islamic State’s caliphate.