Strategic Communication in Counter Terrorism: Target Audience Analysis, Measures of Effect and Counter Narrative - 4-5 June 2014 (original) (raw)

Strategic Communication in Countering Terrorism

The concept of Strategic Communication, which is known to be implemented by competitive institutions in trade and economy to grow reputation and to reach customers by analyzing target audience, has become widespread recently and applicability thereof has been discussed in fields of national/international security, policies and countering terrorism. Using the term “Strategic Communication” in lieu of other different definition and concepts has obscured the nature and the scope of the term and gave rise to confusion. This confusion caused this concept to be directly perceived as soft power, public diplomacy, propaganda, information warfare and psychological operations. The purpose of this study is to define Strategic Communication, in the light of the studies and practices that are conducted at international level; to analyze fundamentals as to how this concept can be applied in countering terrorism. In this context, the application oriented main idea of the study is to suggest placing the Strategic Communication discipline to the focus of countering terrorism planning and execution stages and utilizing conventional kinetic components and capabilities (such as military power or police) as an auxiliary part of planning. This study is important in the sense of analyzing the concept of Strategic Communication, which is not sufficiently known although frequently discussed, in the scope of countering terrorism to shed light to future practices and studies and to prevent ambiguity, and that it offers suggestions as to how this concept can be applied. Key words: Strategic Communication, Terror, Terrorism, Political Terrorism, Countering Terrorism.

Transformational Strategic Communication: A New Paradigm fo r Counterterrorism Communication

2006

Note: These notes were not read as the talk, but only provided a guideline for it. There is therefore, some variance between the notes and actual presentation. Only those things said in both forms can be attributed to the “talk.” THANK YOU COMMENTS: 1. Thanks to introducer and organizers and to previous speakers. 2. Thanks to audience members including students, faculty, analysts and members of the Las Cruces community. 10/23/2006 2 3. Thanks to Dr. Chris Weaver for his tireless efforts at helping me to analyze various forms of political communication related to terrorism. 4. Thanks Dr. Mike Coombs for introducing me to the areas of government activity in strategic communication. In this talk, I will attempt to describe the historical nature of strategic communication (SC), why it is presently not working well, and what can be done to make it work. In doing so, I will cover the following topic areas: a) the history of strategic communication in general and in the United States speci...

THE NATO'S USE OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION IN COMBATING TERRORISM

Edited By: Banu Baybars Hawks & Lemi Baruh …, 2010

This conference proceeding is based on the Societies Under Siege: Media, Government, Politics, and Citizens' Freedoms in an Age of Terrorism international conference held at Kadir Has University, Istanbul in 2009. We appreciate all the support we received from Kadir Has University and our colleagues at the Faculty of Communications.

Terrorism as a Strategic Communication Phenomenon

At present, terrorism is still an ambiguous concept. The multiplicity of types and causes of terrorism is often concealed by the factual similarity of terroristic acts in their consequences. In addition, as 'terrorism' continues to reinvent itself, its ever-changing nature persists in puzzling academics around the world. Nevertheless, there are some common themes which have outlined the directions for terrorism research over the last decades. Most of them are applicable to particular aspects of the phenomenon rather than its holistic structure due to limitations, partly described above. In an attempt to present 'terrorism' as fully as possible, the present work focuses on its specifics as a communication approach. Through a detailed analysis of theoretical work and a comparative analysis of case study materials, the article demonstrates significant benefits in perceiving terrorism as a strategic communication concept. The positives of placing the phenomenon within this framework include, but are not limited to, the opportunity to examine the role of different actors, define their positions and aspirations, and account for both the rational and emotional aspects of their behavior. Using a classical set of tools for analyzing a communication process, the research provides a new approach towards understanding and countering terrorists' activity in the future.

The Role and Place of Strategic Communication in Countering Terrorism

2012

Ozellikle ekonomi ve ticaret alaninda rekabet eden kurumlar tarafindan hedef kitleleri analiz ederek itibar saglamak ve musteriye ulasabilmek icin uygulandigi bilinen Stratejik Iletisim kavrami; son yillarda oldukca yayginlasmis, ulusal/uluslararasi guvenlik, politika, terorizmle mucadele alanlarinda da uygulanabilirligi tartisilmaya baslamistir. Ancak, stratejik iletisimin bu yeni alanlarda farkli tanim ve kavramlar yerine kullanilmasiyla dogasi ve kapsaminin anlasilmasi zorlasmis, karisikliklara neden olmustur. Bu karisiklik, bu kavramin cogu zaman dogrudan yumusak guc, kamu diplomasisi, propaganda, bilgi harbi ve psikolojik harekât olarak algilanmasina neden olmustur. Bu calismanin amaci; stratejik iletisim kavramini, uluslararasi duzeyde yapilan calismalar ve uygulamalar isiginda tanimlamak, terorizmle mucadelede nasil uygulanabilecegine dair esaslari analiz etmektir. Bu kapsamda calismanin uygulamaya yonelik ana fikri; terorizmle mucadelede planlama ve icra safhalarinin odak no...

Counter Terrorism and Social Media

Pakistan Army Green Book, 2018

The virtual world of information and communication has braced itself for the new media environment where websites, blogs and social media all are interconnected in innovative ways. Huge data is generated by the users and shared on different internet platforms. Terrorist groups have taken advantage of this new digital age and are proactively engaged in their strategic communication operations. This presents a unique and hard challenge to the governments in countering the terrorists’ propaganda. This paper argues that there is a lack of research and analysis on the part of the governments to understand this huge data and develop sound counter-terrorism operations on social media. The paper recommends a strategic communication model of counter-terrorism for social media.

The Case of Afghanistan in Nato’s Strategic Communication Concept in Combating Terrorism

Atatürk Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 2021

StratCom is a comparatively new term that has become almost a buzzword in many areas, including the military. It has no agreed definition, but is usually associated with winning people's hearts and minds. The human factor is very important in strategic communication, as it is vital to understand, and to interact, engage, and communicate with, the public. StratCom is the synchronization of all communication and information-related attempts directed at the target audience in order to form, strengthen or maintain an idea or attitude that is in the interest of the operation or implemented policy. This paper analyses StratCom efforts of the NATO-led ISAF forces, which have been in combat in Afghanistan since 2003. It argues that StratCom has played a crucial role in achieving success for the Alliance and coalition forces in Afghanistan because to effectively combat terrorism, modern warfare requires a comprehensive approach rather than solely military power.