The internet offers tremendous opportunities for violent extremists across the ideological spectrum and at a global level. In addition to propaganda, digital technologies have transformed the dynamics of radical mobilisation, recruitment and participation. Even though the jihadist threat has seemingly declined in the West, the danger exists of the internet being an environment where radical messages can survive and even prosper. Against this background, this ISPI report investigates the current landscape of jihadist online communication, including original empirical analysis. Specific attention is also placed on potential measures and initiatives to address the threat of online violent extremism. The volume aims to present important points for reflection on the phenomenon in the West (including Italy) and beyond.

Explaining the means utilised by the editors of the Islamic State’s online magazines to win the "hearts and minds" of their audiences, this book is a result of a multidimensional content analysis of two flagship periodicals of the Islamic State: Dabiq and Rumiyah. Drawing from a number of theoretical concepts in propaganda studies, the research uses comparative analysis to understand the evolution of the modus operandi employed by the editorial staff. The volume evaluates the types of arguments used in these magazines, as well as the emotions and behaviour that these triggered in readers. This book concentrates on the formats and thematic composition of a variety of the Islamic State’s e-periodicals, including Dabiq, Rumiyah, Dar al-Islam or Konstantiniyye, from the viewpoint of the constantly changing strategic situation and priorities of the "Caliphate." The e-magazines of the post-territorial phase of the Islamic State, e.g. From Dabiq to Rome and Youth of the Caliphate, were also taken into consideration. Overall, this book does not only offer new insights into the propaganda methods of the Islamic State’s periodicals, but it also summarises their rise and fall between 2014 and 2019. The volume is dedicated mostly to academics and postgraduate students specialised in terrorism studies, political violence, and security studies.

The internet offers tremendous opportunities for violent extremists across the ideological spectrum and at a global level. In addition to propaganda, digital technologies have transformed the dynamics of radical mobilisation, recruitment and participation. Even though the jihadist threat has seemingly declined in the West, the danger exists of the internet being an environment where radical messages can survive and even prosper. Against this background, this ISPI report investigates the current landscape of jihadist online communication, including original empirical analysis. Specific attention is also placed on potential measures and initiatives to address the threat of online violent extremism. The volume aims to present important points for reflection on the phenomenon in the West (including Italy) and beyond.

This collection explores the discursive strategies and linguistic resources underpinning conflict and polarization, taking a multidisciplinary approach to examine the ways in which conflict is constructed across a diverse range of contexts. The volume is divided into two sections as a means of identifying two different dimensions to conflict construction and bridging the gap between different perspectives through a constructivist framework. The first part comprises chapters looking at sociopolitical conflicts across specific geographic contexts across the US, Europe and Latin America. The second half of the book unpacks sociocultural conflicts, those not defined by physical borders but shaped by ideological differences on core values, such as on religion, gender and the environment. Drawing on frameworks across such fields as linguistics, critical discourse analysis, rhetoric studies and cognitive studies, the book offers new insights into the discursive polarization that permeates contemporary communicative interactions and the ways in which a better understanding of conflict and its origins might serve as a mechanism for providing new ways forward. This book will be of particular interest to students and scholars in critical discourse analysis, linguistics, rhetoric studies and peace and conflict studies.

What changes have the terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001 and the subsequent attacks in Europe brought to Western societies? In what ways have these events and their aftermath impacted on the relationships between Muslim communities and Western societies? This book explores the remaking of the relationship between Islam and Islamism, on the one hand, and security and securitization, on the other hand, by arguing that 9/11 and its aftermath have led to the opening of a new phase in Western and European history and have remade the relationship between Islam and governmental and societal approaches to security. The authors utilize case studies across the Western world to understand this relationship.

Ce Liber Amicorum, qui rend hommage à Gilles de Kerchove, coordinateur de l’Union européenne pour la lutte contre le terrorisme de 2007 à 2021, dresse le bilan de ce qui a été mené dans ce secteur ces dernières années et se penche également sur les défis à venir. Après une introduction retraçant le parcours du récipiendaire, la première partie se penche sur différents aspects de la coopération au sein de l’Union européenne, allant du mandat d’arrêt européen, à la protection des droits fondamentaux en passant par le rôle de certaines institutions ou agences de l’UE. La deuxième partie traite de la coopération entre l’UE et le reste du monde, qu’il s’agisse d’organisations mondiales ou de certains États en particulier, comme les États-Unis. La troisième partie, plus transversale, rassemble des contributions diverses touchant notamment à l’État islamique, au financement du terrorisme, aux victimes et aux nouvelles technologies. L’ouvrage se clôt par une quatrième partie relative à la prévention, à la lutte contre la radicalisation, aux valeurs, à la liberté de la presse et à la littérature. Les auteurs, issus de diverses parties du monde, présentent des profils très divers, parmi lesquels d’éminentes figures politiques, des fonctionnaires européens, des académiques, des magistrats et des journalistes. L’ouvrage a été coordonné par Dr. Christiane Höhn, Conseillère principale de Gilles de Kerchove, Isabel Saavedra, son Assistante personnelle et Prof. Anne Weyembergh, Professeur ordinaire à l’Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). * * * This Liber Amicorum, which pays tribute to Gilles de Kerchove, EU counter-terrorism coordinator from 2007 to 2021, takes stock of what has been achieved in this field in recent years and looks at the challenges ahead. After an introduction tracing the recipient’s background, the first part looks at different aspects of cooperation within the European Union, ranging from the European arrest warrant, to the protection of fundamental rights and the role of certain EU institutions or agencies. The second part deals with cooperation between the EU and the rest of the world, both with global organisations and with specific States, such as the United States. The third, cross-cutting part brings together various contributions relating to the Islamic State, the financing of terrorism, victims and new technologies. The book concludes with a fourth part on prevention, the fight against radicalisation, values, freedom of the press and literature. The authors come from various parts of the world and present a wide range of profiles, including prominent political figures, EU officials, academics, magistrates and journalists. The book was coordinated by Dr. Christiane Höhn, Principal Advisor to Gilles de Kerchove, Isabel Saavedra, his Personal Assistant and Prof. Anne Weyembergh, Professor at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB).

This book shares essential insights into how the social sciences and technology could foster new advances in managing the complexity inherent to the criminal and digital policing landscape. Said landscape is both dynamic and intricate, emanating as it does from crimes that are both persistent and transnational. Globalization, human and drug trafficking, cybercrime, terrorism, and other forms of transnational crime can have significant impacts on societies around the world. This necessitates a reassessment of what crime, national security and policing mean. Recent global events such as human and drug trafficking, the COVID-19 pandemic, violent protests, cyber threats and terrorist activities underscore the vulnerabilities of our current security and digital policing posture. This book presents concepts, theories and digital policing applications, offering a comprehensive analysis of current and emerging trends in digital policing. Pursuing an evidence-based approach, it offers an extraordinarily perceptive and detailed view of issues and solutions regarding the crime and digital policing landscape. To this end, it highlights current technological and methodological solutions as well as advances concerning integrated computational and analytical solutions deployed in digital policing. It also provides a comprehensive analysis of the technical, ethical, legal, privacy and civil liberty challenges stemming from the aforementioned advances in the field of digital policing; and accordingly, offers detailed recommendations supporting the design and implementation of best practices including technical, ethical and legal approaches when conducting digital policing. The research gathered here fits well into the larger body of work on various aspects of AI, cybersecurity, national security, digital forensics, cyberterrorism, ethics, human rights, cybercrime and law. It provides a valuable reference for law enforcement, policymakers, cybersecurity experts, digital forensic practitioners, researchers, graduates and advanced undergraduates, and other stakeholders with an interest in counter-terrorism. In addition to this target audience, it offers a valuable tool for lawyers, criminologist and technology enthusiasts.

This title considers the constitutionality of hate speech regulation, and examines how liberal democracies have adopted fundamental differences in the way they respond to racist or extreme expressions.