The Islamic State - Terrorism and Influence

Charlie Winter, Nicole Celikkesen This session, which is based
on a longitudinal archive of primary source materials collected
since early 2014, will set out the current state of play regarding
the Islamic State. First of all, by reverse
engineering documents and publications leaked from the
organisation in Iraq, Winter will set out the tactical and
strategic rationale behind the group's propaganda operations,
demonstrating how an obsessive desire for information and narrative
supremacy has coursed through it and its predecessors' veins
for a matter of decades. After this, Winter will identify and
discuss the three core objectives of its communication operations
today - that is: (1) to present an alternative narrative to current
members and would-be recruits; (2) to counter the global "fake
news" agenda, which it considers to be a deliberate intellectual
offensive against Sunni Muslims; and (3) to launch Islamic State
"information bombs" in the form of offensive psychological attacks
against populations and governments outside of Syria and Iraq. The
third section will consider how things have changed since 2014.
Using data to track its evolution, Winter will demonstrate how the
group's "virtual caliphate" has altered since its heyday a few
years ago. He will also take this as an opportunity
speculate as to its operational trajectory in the coming
months and years, taking note of its new stated priority: to
incite, instruct and instigate acts of violence outside of its
immediate sphere of operations in Syria and Iraq.  Throughout
the session, which will be highly visual, Winter will engage with
some of the toughest questions associated with terrorist use of the
Internet, ranging from the merits (and demerits) of censorship to
the implications of encryption technology.