Countering Terrorist Propaganda in Asia: Towards a Better Communications Strategy in Cyberspace

摘要

The paper is intended to address the problem of countering terrorist propaganda and to elaborate a better communications strategy in cyberspace. It has become quite evident that the existing socio-economic order is getting increasingly dependent on telecommunications, networking, and data processing, which are the features of a new way of life in our modern society. A central position in this new system of relations with the public belongs to the information technologies. Yet, at the same time, it is important to bear in mind that these new technologies, when developed to their full potential are capable of destroying the existing orders and running the risk of wreaking havoc to political systems that once enjoyed relative stability and an unquestionable degree of influence over their publics. Today, for instance, no nation is able to conduct an effective military operation without a well-planned strategic communication. It is remarkable that terrorists are also well aware of that. It seems to be almost universally admitted that the propaganda of the Islamic State has been by far the most successful of all terrorist organisations, which ultimately allowed enlisting to its ranks thousands of new combatants. The purpose of this study is to isolate the most potent factors that made it possible for the self-proclaimed Islamic State to obtain this level of success and to identify the most effective mechanisms of countering those factors in order to draw meaningful lessons for a more effectual policy of containing such challenges in the future.