IS 2.0 and Beyond: The Caliphate’s Communication Project

Social media, videos, online magazines, local radios, pamphlets and posters: ISIS has proven capable of adapting its communication strategy to strengthen its power locally, recruit new fighters or influence public opinion in Western and Arab nations. Not just images of war and summary executions but also constant propaganda to show that it controls its territory and is able to provide for its inhabitants’ needs. This book – edited by Paolo Magri, ISPI director, and Monica Maggioni, RaiNews24 director – analyses the propaganda of the Islamic State, thanks to articles by researchers, communication experts and journalists. The purpose is to paint an exhaustive picture of the subject, combining meticulous examination of the historical and symbolic references in ISIS videos with careful analysis of editing and post–production techniques. In addition, the book contains materials coming from the territories controlled by the so–called caliphate. These documents provide a better understanding of the internal propaganda of the Islamic State and the strategy it uses to create a narrative of the enemy serving its ideological designs.