Taliban Casualty Inflation Reaches a New High
By Chris Lundry We in the CSC have documented the predilection for the Taliban to exaggerate the number of casualties it inflicts on the ISAF in Afghanistan (in this blog post, and in Studies in Conflict in Terrorism). The latest Taliban figures for the Islamic month...
Extremists Rebrand the Conflict in Afghanistan
by Chris Lundry Indonesian extremist site Prisoner of Joy recently posted the announcement by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan that operations against the United States and its allies will now be named Al Farooq Operations. From the post: The invaders should be made...
CSC Sponsors Strategic Communication Events at ICA
by Scott W. Ruston The International Communication Association (ICA) holds its annual conference later this week here in Phoenix 24-28 May, and the CSC is sponsoring two events focused on strategic communication. If you're interested in strategic communication and in...
Wahhabi Perspectives on Pluralism and Gender
The CSC has released a new white paper by Inayah Rohmaniyah and Mark Woodward entitled Wahhabi Perspectives on Pluralism and Gender: A Saudi – Indonesian Contrast. The paper is available here and the executive summary follows: In public discourse about Islam,...
Critics Fret About Smith-Mundt Modernization Act
by Steven R. Corman The House of Representatives has been working to amend the laws that govern the dissemination of "propaganda" materials in the U.S. What seemed like a good idea to me and others--one long overdue--is being spun by some observers as a dark effort...
Public Diplomacy: Books, Articles, Websites #61
by Bruce Gregory* ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller, "Arab Youth Survey 2012," May 2, 2012. In this fourth annual survey of young Arabs in 12 countries, 82 percent say economic concerns, "fair pay and home ownership," are their top priority, displacing "living in a democracy"...
Review: “De-Legitimizing al-Qaeda”
by Jeffry R. Halverson The Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) has released a short monograph, De-Legitimizing al-Qaeda: A Jihad-Realist Approach, by sociologist Paul Kamolnick, a professor at Eastern Tennessee State University. Kamolnick criticizes current US efforts...
Corman speaks at 5th NATO SHAPE Strategic Communication Conference in Izmir, Turkey
CSC Director Steve Corman addressed the 5th NATO SHAPE Strategic Communication conference on June 21st in Izmir, Turhey. The conference gathered over 140 practitioners from NATO member countries. The conference featured a keynote address by Gen. John Allen, commander...
Should Captured AQ Documents Have Been Released?
By Steven R. Corman & Jarret Brachman The release last week of documents captured from Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbotabad has generated a flurry of interest in the press and blogosphere. Yet a question has arisen as to whether the release was wise, since the...
“We are All Afghans” in Iran
by Jeffry R. Halverson The Arab Spring showed the world how social media can help organize mass political dissent. In the cases of Tunisia and Egypt, single issues coalesced online into far broader and diverse campaigns that toppled ruling regimes. Recently, outside...
Germans Find AQ Treasure-Trove Encrypted in Porno Videos
by Steven R. Corman CNN is re-reporting a story from Die Zeit about a treasure-trove of al-Qaeda documents and manuals found encrypted in pornographic videos. The encryption was done using a technique call steganography. The videos were found in the possession of...
Suharto Era Comops Backfire in 2012 Indonesia
by Chris Lundry Indonesian extremists continue to portray Ambonese Christians as engaged in separatist rebellion against Indonesia, and a crusade against Muslims. This isn’t true, but raises the question: where on earth did they get this idea? The adage that if a lie...
Cooking the Books
by Steven R. Corman The CSC has an article in the current issue of Studies in Conflict and Terrorism on casualty inflation by the Taliban in the Afghanistan conflict. The abstract follows, and the full text is available here (subscription). Cooking the Books:...
NATO’s Narrative Vacuum
by Steven R. Corman Last month, James Appathurai, NATO's Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy, agreed to participate in an electronic Q&A sponsored by the Atlantic Community. He answered 20 questions in four installments,...
Bin Laden Worried about Impact of Muslim Killings on AQ Brand
by Steven R. Corman In previous posts I have advocated amplifying al-Qaeda's record of killing Muslims, and argued this practice was doing serious damage toAQ's brand. Captured documents from bin Laden's compound indicate that he was worried about the same thing....
The Promise and Pitfalls of Humor and Ridicule as Strategies to Counter Extremist Narratives
CSC members H. L. Goodall, Jr, Pauline Hope Cheong, Kristin Fleischer and Steven R. Corman have just published a new article in Perspectives on Terrorism. The abstract is below, and the article is available (free) here. Rhetorical Charms: The Promise and Pitfalls of...
Invisible Children Film on LRA More Self Promotion than Expose
by R. Bennett Furlow On March 5th, 2012 the non-profit organization Invisible Children (IC) released a short film which quickly went viral. Kony 2012 is the name of the film and campaign by Invisible Children to raise the profile of Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s...
Public Diplomacy: Books, Articles, Websites #60
by Bruce Gregory* Morton Abramowitz and Mark Lowenthal, "Restocking the Toollkit," The American Interest, Winter, January/February, 2012, 57-64. Abramowitz (Century Foundation) and Lowenthal (Intelligence and Security Academy) lament two decades of US overreliance on...
CSC Launch Event. Dr. Jarrett Brachman presents “Al Qaeda in a post-Bin Laden World”
23 February 2012 Celebrating the designation of the CSC as an ABOR-recoginized Research Center, the CSC hosted a kickoff event with leading terrorism researcher Dr. Jarrett Brachman delivering a keynote address. Hosted by the CSC in the ASU Foundation Conference...
OMG! Boogers and Public Diplomacy
by Steven R. Corman I pass on, for your viewing enjoyment, a segment from the PBS Newshour about a perky, Chinese speaking, twenty-something Voice of America employee named Jessica Beinecke. She is becoming something of a sensation in China by teaching American slang...