“Don’t Hear about Us, Hear from Us” : The role of ISIS’ online magazine Dabiq in shaping foreign fighter motivations

Abstract

Despite myriad counter measures taken by governments and community initiatives, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has attracted unprecedented amounts of foreign fighters since the establishment of the so-called caliphate in July 2014. This thesis aims to go beyond traditional explanations for this surge by con-tributing to the growing body of literature on the mobilising efficacy of the organisation’s propaganda. Recent efforts of countering the organisation’s strategic message have proven inefficient and call for a deeper understanding of the underlying message of ISIS to formulate effective counter policy. This research aims to fill that void by providing an in-depth analysis of the organisation’s online magazine Dabiq, in order to determine how ISIS constructs a discursive message that aims to shape the motivations of foreign fight-ers. A combination of theories is used to formulate an answer. After defining foreign fighter motivations through extensive literature review, Corpus-Assisted Discourse-Studies (CADS) is used to establish the over-arching message of Dabiq’s fourteen current issues. This information is then interpreted using a combina-tion of Collective Action Frames and Identity Narrative Theory to formulate an answer to the research question. The analysis finds convincing evidence that Dabiq creates a discursive message that aims to mobi-lise foreign fighters by constructing diagnostic, prognostic, and motivational frames. The findings further demonstrate that it is plausible that the specific realisation of these frames aims to mobilise individuals looking to satisfy their need for identity and a place to belong, by offering certainty and reinforcement of tradition by commitment to the in-group.