VOX-Pol has released its latest report in the VOX-Pol publication series, titled A Tale Of Two Caliphates: Comparing the Islamic State’s Internal and External Messaging Priorities, co-authored by Dr. Dounia Mahlouly and Charlie Winter. About the Report In recent years, the media department of the self-proclaimed Islamic State has proven itself to be highly adept at ...

By Kiriloi M. Ingram Since the self-proclaimed Caliphate’s inception, debate amongst scholars has ensued over whether the Islamic State’s (IS’s) muhajirat (female émigrés) would become female combatants. For example, Nelly Lahoud argues that IS is unlikely to devise a policy explicitly allowing women to engage in combat, as legitimating such a role would allow women to ...

On 9 March, 2018 VOX-Pol Coordinator Prof. Maura Conway presented a keynote on the issue of ‘Online Radicalisation: Then and Now’ at London Grid for Learning’s (LGfL) inaugural safeguarding conference. In her keynote, Maura outlined the significant changes observed in extremist recruitment, including that of so-called ‘Islamic State’ and the extreme right, over the past number of ...

On 7 March, 2018 VOX-Pol Coordinator Prof. Maura Conway gave evidence to the UK House of Lords International Relations Committee.  The meeting was hosted by the Chairman of the Select Committee Lord Howell of Guildford in the Palace of Westminster.  The purpose of the meeting was to gather opinions on the changes wrought by digital technologies in the international system, particularly the role of the Internet and its ...

By Brad Galloway and Ryan Scrivens 2017 saw an increase in the on- and offline activities of organised hate groups in various parts of the Western world, including – but, indeed, not limited to – the US, Canada, and the UK. Some have attributed this spike to the current political climate in the West, from ...