WIXLIB

SUMMARYRadical Islamist online magazines first appeared inNovember 2003 with the publication of Sawt al-Jihad(Voice of Jihad) in Arabic. This magazine discontinuedpublication in April 2005 after 29 issues, having beenshut down by the Saudi security services. The magazine was produced by the Saudi branch of al-Qaedathat later evolved into al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). It called upon other al-Qaeda groups todevelop and franchise their own magazines. Besidesthe plethora of radical Islamist online magazines inArabic that has been produced since 2003—alongwith those in many other languages including Urdu,Russian, German, French, and Turkish—English-language editions have been in existence since April-May2007. There have been a number of these magazinespublished at varying dates and for varying periods oftime. Some, such as Al Rashideen and Ihya-e-Khilafat,were initiated but fell by the wayside, victim to a lackof audience, the capture or death of an editor, or theirinitiating group’s evolution. In the cases of al-Qaeda’sInspire and Islamic State’s Dabiq magazines, the publications have been ongoing—until very recently withthe demise of Dabiq—with over a dozen issues each,and have notably been cited in relation to terrorismcases by law enforcement. Beyond their propagandapotentials, each magazine can be said to promote aspecific jihadi culture, to be embraced in total by followers of the particular group in question in order toachieve its desired utopian vision. Toward that end,components of these online magazines address thegroup’s successes and legitimacy, offer a vision of adesirable end state, encourage recruitment into theirranks, direct violent action against stated enemies,xiii

and provide instructional materials and advice withregards to its enaction.The fact that an online magazine-style format hasbeen used across groups over a notable period of timeand the availability of a comprehensive data set of theissues of these magazines, both current and archived,is believed to provide a unique opportunity for evaluation of the nature of the threat these organizationspotentially pose. It is not surprising, then, that theappearance and ongoing publication of English-language based magazines have caught the attention ofscholars and counterterrorism researchers who haveanalyzed the better-known series of these magazinesin numerous manuscripts, reports, and articles. Whereuseful, these works have been cited in the magazinedatabase that follows. In reviewing the work doneto date on radical Islamist English-language onlinemagazines, however, efforts toward the analysis ofonline radical jihadist media in general—and onlineEnglish-language magazines in particular—have beenpiecemeal. The results fall into three main categories:single magazine generalizations, comparisons betweenmagazines, and those—largely popular media—piecesconnecting these magazines to violent action.In investigating these radical Islamist English-language online magazines and the body of work surrounding them, the authors determined that therewas no document available in open-source form providing a comprehensive overview of this magazinegenre, along with their predecessors and offshootEnglish-language periodicals. In addition, none of theexisting studies provided a thorough look at the entirecontents of Inspire and Dabiq—as the two then-primaryongoing publications—in a way that would be usefulxiv

to U.S. military and governmental researchers andpolicymakers.The focused analysis of these magazines in thisbook, both chronologically and comparatively in theirentirety, has not been done before, and provides essential insights into both the development and ebb andflow of the publications themselves, as well as how thenarratives related to the important aspects of these terrorist groups have differed, overlapped, and adaptedover time. In the following sections, the authors haveprovided a broad in-depth overview and analysisof the subject matter that they believe will provideinvaluable information to researchers as well as usefulinsights to policymakers in this area. First, the authorshave constructed an informational database of the radical Islamist English-language online magazine genre.In it, they have identified a wide breadth of precursorworks that exist in a magazine or similar format to theonline English-language magazines in question alongwith more tactically focused works of these or similargroups. The authors then present a profile of each magazine in terms of its editor, contributors, the region ofpublication, target group, length, and dates and numbers of issues. Information on each specific issue of aparticular magazine, including its stated topic, date,length, and main articles, as well as offshoot documents, is also included. Next, the authors undertakean in-depth analysis identifying the basic narrativesfound among and between issues of the two main radical Islamist English-language magazines—Inspire andDabiq—with regard to four primary topics: the desiredend state of the group; the “enemy” relevant to thatparticular issue; statements made related to recruitment strategies; and any particular tactics, techniques,and procedures advocated—along with the narrativesxv

supporting them within each magazine data set byissue and as a whole. They further determined whatspecific themes arose per issue and between groupsalong with changes and trends over time. Finally, theauthors provide preliminary recommendations towardan appropriate U.S. policy response given those trendsthat have been identified within. In addition, a glossary of all Arabic terms used in Inspire and Dabiq isincluded herein, plus a master listing of all radical Islamist English-language online magazines (see appendix I), and a listing of those mag azines’ allegiance andforeign terrorist organization (FTO) affiliation (seeappendix II) are provided.Two strategic insights can be readily gained fromthe research and analysis conducted on radical IslamistEnglish-language online magazines. First, such magazines exist in distinct clusters or groupings, revolvingaround either al-Qaeda or the Islamic State terroristorganizations. Second, these competing terrorist organizations have very different strategic approaches thatthey are promoting in their core magazines Inspire andDabiq, respectively. Some of the narratives related tothese differing strategic approaches were analyzed inthis book; however, some additional narratives canalso be tentatively surmised.The strategic approaches related to these terroristorganizations and promoted in their supporting onlinemagazine clusters are presented in table form in thisbook. This table represents an extension of the fourthemes—pertaining to end state, enemy, recruitment,and tactics—found in the Inspire and Dabiq datasetsanalyzed earlier. To this table has been added a widerange of additional attributes related to the differingstrategic approaches of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.These additional attributes have been deduced byxvi

means of a close reading of the magazine datasets aswell as the other magazines and eBooks in their respective English-language publication clusters.A suggested generic policy response to the emergence of radical Islamist English-language magazineshas been provided in this manuscript. It draws upon atargeting schema that identifies five stages in the magazine life-cycle process: environmental motivators,production, end product, distribution, and outcomes.Each of these life-cycle stages represents target setsthat can be influenced by the U.S. Army, joint force,intelligence community, and ultimately whole-of-government response activities. These magazine lifecycle stages, as well as the desired response end stateand the response measures required to achieve thatresponse end state, are highlighted in a table providedin the book. Given the research project boundaries ofthis book, only a generalized response template andanalytical discussion will be provided. Further, a “BlueSky” response measures approach has been taken so asnot to initially narrow the policy options that may beexplored. There is hope that these elements will providea form of “intellectual program starter” upon whichU.S. agencies can build in order to respond to the emergence of Islamist English-language online magazines.Of course, for implementation purposes, two distinctprograms—one focused on the Inspire (al-Qaeda) andthe other focused on the Dabiq (Islamic State) magazineclusters and the inherent differences in their strategicapproaches—must be specifically developed in orderto respond to their emergence effectively.xvii

CONTENTSForeword. ixAbout the Authors. xiSummary. xiiiRadical Islamist English-languageOnline Magazines: Research Guide,Strategic Insights, and Policy Response.1Online Magazine Profiles.6Jihad Recollections (al-Qaeda Affinity).7 efenders of the Truth (Al Mosul IslamicDNetwork; al-Qaeda).10Inspire (AQAP).12Gaidi Mtaani (al Shabaab).18Azan (Taliban/Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan).22Dabiq (Islamic State).26Resurgence (AQIS).32Amka (al Shabaab—al-Muhajiroun component).34Al-Risalah (al-Nusrah Front).36Additional Online Magazines.38I slamic State News (ISN) and Islamic StateReports (ISR) and eBooks.54xviii

Comparative Analysis.68Al-Qaeda (Inspire) Narratives.69Islamic State (Dabiq) Narratives.91Strategic Insights.123 l-Qaeda and Islamic State OnlineAMagazine Clusters.123 l-Qaeda and Islamic State StrategicAApproaches.129Policy Response.135Environmental Motivators.137Production.137End 3Glossary of Arabic Terms.165Appendix I.191Radical Islamist Online Magazine Chronology.191Appendix II.197xix

Radical Islamist English-LanguageOnline Magazine’s allegiance andForeign Terrorist Organization (FTO) affiliation.197Endnotes – Appendix II.198xx

RADICAL ISLAMIST ENGLISH-LANGUAGEONLINE MAGAZINES: RESEARCH GUIDE,STRATEGIC INSIGHTS, AND POLICYRESPONSEIncreasingly, the primary threats to U.S. securityhave involved hybrid warfare challenges including theuse of irregular tactics and the rise of nonstate actors.Hybrid warfare merges conventional warfare withnon-traditional military approaches including terrorism, insurgency, and information and cyber warfare,and the U.S. Army has had to adapt its role in responding to these new and varied threats.1 In the post-9/11period, the nature of its global counterterrorism andcounterinsurgency response has necessitated shiftingits information operations focus in order to deal withthe impact of radical jihadist organizations’ skillful useof social media and the internet at large, particularlyas these are used to propagate narratives supportingthe employment of tactics, techniques, and procedureshostile to the United States and its allies and interestsaround the world.One innovative way in which these radical jihadist organizations have attempted to promote theirnarratives is through the use of online radical Islamist English-language magazines that draw uponthat method of publication in order to reach out toa broader cohort of existing constituents and affinity groups in the West while maintaining an internetpresence that intimidates outsiders. The magazineformat allows an organization to present a coherentand encompassing vision of their status and missionwithout the distortion found in more interactive formsof online media such as chat rooms and forums, whichare subject to questions and commentary from outside1

the established “party line.” In addition, they providethe ease of access of an online resource with the abilityto print out and circulate the magazine to those without access or those who are simply more comfortablewith an older media format—something the publishers have actively encouraged. While the singular effectiveness of an online magazine in achieving a group’sintentions is outside the scope of this paper—and,ultimately, very difficult to ascertain—the ideals setforth in terms of the narrative presented and the tactics, techniques, and procedures promoted can be seenas representing the desired means and ends of thesegroups in question.Radical Islamist online magazines themselves firstappeared in November 2003 with the publication ofSawt al-Jihad (Voice of Jihad) in Arabic. This magazine discontinued publication in April 2005 after 29issues, having been shut down by the Saudi securityservices—although a 30th issue may have been published in February 2007.2 The magazine was producedby the Saudi branch of al-Qaeda that later evolved intoal-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). It calledupon other al-Qaeda groups to develop and franchisetheir own magazines.3 Besides the plethora of radicalIslamist online magazines in Arabic that has been produced since 2003—along with those in many other languages including Urdu, Russian, German, French, andTurkish—English-language editions have been in existence since April-May 2007. There have been a numberof these magazines published at varying dates andfor varying periods of time. Some, such as Al Rashideen and Ihya-e-Khilafat, were initiated but fell by thewayside, victim to a lack of audience, the capture ordeath of an editor, or their initiating group’s evolution.In the cases of al-Qaeda’s Inspire and Islamic State’s2

Dabiq magazines, the publications have been ongoing—until very recently with the demise of Dabiq—with over a dozen issues each, and have notably beencited in relation to terrorism cases by law enforcement.Beyond their “propaganda” potentials, each magazinecan be said to promote a specific jihadi culture, to beembraced in total by followers of the particular groupin question in order to achieve its desired utopianvision. Toward that end, components of these onlinemagazines address the group’s successes and legitimacy, offer a vision of a desirable end state, encourage recruitment into their ranks, direct violent actionagainst stated enemies, and provide instructionalmaterials and advice with regards to its enaction.The fact that an online magazine-style format hasbeen used across groups over a notable period of timeand the availability of a comprehensive data set of theissues of these magazines, both current and archived, isbelieved to provide a unique opportunity for evaluationof the nature of the threat these organizations potentially pose. It is not surprising, then, that the appearance and ongoing publication of the English-languagebased magazines have caught the attention of scholarsand counterterrorism researchers who have analyzedthe better-known series of these magazines in numerous manuscripts, reports, and articles. Where useful,these works have been cited in the magazine databasethat follows. In reviewing the work done to date onradical Islamist English-language online magazines,however, efforts toward the analysis of online radicaljihadist media in general—and online English-language magazines in particular—have been piecemeal.The results fall into three main categories: single magazine generalizations, comparisons between magazines,3

and those—largely popular media—pieces connectingthese magazines to violent action.In the first case, some works have looked at individual (or even several) issues of a single onlineEnglish-language magazine to make generalizationson its overall content.4 There is often great interest atthe onset of a new magazine’s publication, falling offin the attention-cycle after that point unless an issueis particularly sensational in nature. With Inspire andDabiq in particular, the focus is often upon their glossyand Western style of presentation contrasted with theemphasis on radical Islamist ideology. Many authorsrely largely upon the title to discern the issue’s primary content and emphasis. Much in particular ismade of the potentials for radicalization and recruitment of Western Muslims without any in-depth studyevidencing those effects. Most of what is written aboutthe publications primarily focus upon specific issuesof academic interest or else paint the collection ofissues with a broad stroke. A few of these, however,have made a note of the strategic and tactical insightsto be found.5 The next common type of analysis ofthese online magazines are those which focus on twoor more in comparison, largely Inspire and Dabiq—with particular note of their rivalry—although earlyattempts considered Azan and others in the mix.6The last type are largely popular media pieces whichmentio

Islamist online magazine chronology has been con-structed, and a glossary of Arab terms found in the two dominant magazines is provided. SSI hopes this unique research guide focusing