VOX-Pol Research Fellow Dr. Nico Prucha presented a talk on “Online Media and Online Extremism: The Case of Sunni Extremists and Media Strategies” for a workshop entitled “Violent Extremism in the Western Balkans” that took place in Belgrade, Serbia from 27 – 29 September. The event was organized by the Partnership for Peace (PfP) Consortium Study Group in conjunction with the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy.
In his talk, Dr. Prucha presented an analysis of Arabic language jihadi propaganda specifically relating to the Balkans and the Islamic State (IS). His presentation traced the path from ideological decrees calling upon mujahid veterans and sympathizers in the 1990s to the recent message from IS rephrasing this within the contemporary setting. The video titled “The Honour is in Jihad” was the foundation for his analysis.
Dr. Prucha is currently finishing an article for the conference proceedings entitled “From the Balkan Wars of the 1990s to the ‘Islamic State’: The Outreach of Global Jihad.”