Empirical Assessment of Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Taliban Propaganda

The jihadist groups AQAP, ISIS, and the Taliban have all produced glossy English magazines designed to influence Western sympathizers. We examine these magazines empirically with respect to models of the intensity of informative, imaginative, deceptive, jihadist, and gamification language. This allows their success to be estimated and their similarities and differences to be exposed. We also develop and validate an empirical model of propaganda; according to this model Dabiq, ISIS’s magazine ranks highest of the three.

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Tags: Al-Qaeda, Content Analysis, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Narratives, Taliban, Violent Jihadism