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Author Biography

Dr. Agnes Hankiss is a psychologist, writer, honorary professor and head of the Counterterrorism Department of the National Security Institute at the National University of Public Service. She is the founder and director of the Hamvas Institute for Cultural and Security Studies at Budapest, which, in its research and publications in the last 17 years, has been focusing on the functioning of the communist State Security services. She was a member of the European Parliament (2009-2014) as a representative of the EPP, Vice-Chair, Committee on Petitions, Member of the Committee on Internal and Legal Affairs, Member of the Subcommittee on Security and Defense, Member of Special Committee on Organized Crime, and Member of the Interparliamentary Delegations for Relations with the US and Israel. Her main fields of work in the EP were the Internal Security Strategy of the EU, Terrorism and Counterterrorism, the EU’s CBRN action plan, and Cyber Security.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5038/1944-0472.12.2.1714

Subject Area Keywords

Al-Qaida, Social media, Strategy, Terrorism / counterterrorism

Abstract

Jihadi terrorist organizations view their media opportunities as weapons in their war against the West. While there is a considerable body of work discussing the content and form of Al-Qa'ida's media, including both their written press and video products, we have significantly less information on what goes on behind the scenes: how the tactical elements and strategic goals are designed and implemented to generate these products. The paper asserts that while we still have insufficient information on the media strategies of the Islamic State, due to the ideological, operational and network-to-network continuity between the two organizations, the documents shedding a light on Al-Qa'ida's press efforts can serve as valuable resources in understanding present-day (and maybe the future of) jihadi media as well.

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