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671. Pulling Back the Curtain: An Inside Look at the Islamic State’s Media Organization

Author:
Daniel Milton
Publication Date:
08-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract:
Over the past five years, there has been a significant amount of discussion on the propaganda created and disseminated by the Islamic State. This discourse, which mainly relies on what the group creates for external publication, has been unable to answer questions regarding the structure, policies, and management of the group’s media arm. This Combating Terrorism Center report draws on 13 internal documents that discuss the Islamic State’s media organization in great detail. These documents, obtained by the Department of Defense from Afghanistan, provide an insightful look at how the Islamic State managed its media network. More specifically, this report utilizes these documents to (1) demonstrate that Amaq News Agency is an official node of the Islamic State’s media organization, (2) show the level of detail and direction given to the creation of a wide range of products, (3) illustrate the way the Islamic State’s Diwan of Central Media used policies and programs to centralize control over the propaganda production process, and (4) outline the importance the media organization placed on information security.
Topic:
International Affairs and Military Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

672. Down, but Not Out: An Updated Examination of the Islamic State’s Visual Propaganda

Author:
Daniel Milton
Publication Date:
07-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract:
Since the summer of 2014, the Islamic State has experienced successes and setbacks on the battlefield. That pattern has also been evident in its production of propaganda. In October 2016, the Combating Terrorism Center published a major report that examined the Islamic State’s production of official visual propaganda, such as still-images photo reports as well as the more familiar videos showing both the group’s brutality as well as its efforts to govern. This update to that major report, which relies on a dataset of over 13,000 propaganda releases, seeks to highlight the setbacks the group has faced as its production of propaganda has continued to rise and fall. As shown through the data in this report, in July 2018, the group’s production of official visual propaganda fell to its lowest level since January 2015. Focusing only on the decline of the group’s production of propaganda, however, obscures other developments that portend the possibility of the group’s resurgence in Iraq and Syria, as well as the expansion of its efforts around the world. In examining these trends, this report finds a group that is struggling to produce propaganda as it used to do only a short time ago, but one that retains the capacity to resurge in an effort to recapture the headlines.
Topic:
International Affairs and Military Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

673. The Islamic State and Drones: Supply, Scale, and Future Threats

Author:
Don Rassler
Publication Date:
07-2018
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract:
The Islamic State is a group known for doing things a bit differently, for its capacity for innovation, and for its many ‘firsts.’ Two of those ‘firsts’ happened within months of each other. The first occurred in October 2016 when the group used a bomb-laden drone to kill, after the explosive hidden within the drone killed two Kurdish peshmerga soldiers who were investigating the device. Another ‘first’ happened in January 2017 when the Islamic State released a propaganda video that showed nearly a dozen examples of the group releasing munitions on its enemies from the air with a fair degree of accuracy via quadcopter drones it had modified. And it wasn’t long before the group’s bomb-drop capable drones would go on to kill, too.
Topic:
International Affairs and Military Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

674. Boko Haram Beyond the Headlines: Analyses of Africa’s Enduring Insurgency

Author:
Jacob Zenn and et al
Publication Date:
07-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract:
In a conflict that has no easy answers and no solutions in sight, Boko Haram is already and will remain one of Africa’s enduring insurgencies. In order to better understand Boko Haram now and in the future, this report, edited by Jacob Zenn, challenges some key misconceptions about the insurgency and provides new analyses and insights based on many exclusive primary source materials and datasets. To provide these unique insights, several authors with on-the-ground experience contribute to six areas that are increasingly important but under-researched about Boko Haram and Islamic State in West Africa
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

675. Targeted Terror: The Suicide Bombers of al-Shabaab

Author:
Jason Warner and Ellen Chapin
Publication Date:
02-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract:
Al-Shabaab, an Islamist terrorist group that has been plaguing Somalia since 2006, was named the most deadly terror group in Africa in 2017 by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED). One tactic that al-Shabaab uses in its reign of terror is suicide bombing. Despite recognition of the seriousness of the threat that al-Shabaab’s suicide bombers pose, very little is known about how, when, and why al-Shabaab elects to employ the tactic of suicide bombings. This report answers these questions.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

676. Exploding Stereotypes: Characteristics of Boko Haram’s Suicide Bombers

Author:
Jason Warner and Hilary Matfess
Publication Date:
02-2018
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
Abstract:
Since 2009, the Islamist group known as Boko Haram has ushered in a wave of violence across the Lake Chad Basin region of West Africa, at the intersection of Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon. Among other tactics that it has employed during its reign of terror, the group has been noted for its use of suicide bombers. While the prevalence of suicide bombings has been duly recognized, little remains known about the broader arc of their existence and efficacy: What strategic and operational trends underlie Boko Haram’s use of suicide bombers, and how effective have they been at achieving their objectives? Just who are Boko Haram’s suicide bombers? Where are they deployed, what do they target, and how do different bomber demographics differ in their actions? More broadly, what does Boko Haram’s use of suicide bombers reveal about the past, present, and future of the terrorist group?
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

677. A global framework for tracing Beneficial Ownership

Author:
K N Vaidyanathan and Akshay Mathur
Publication Date:
01-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations
Abstract:
The cross-border flow of payments, remittances, aid and investments is integral for globalisation. Ensuring transparency in such cross-border financial transactions is critical for the stability of the global financial system. A key goal for policy-makers has been the necessity to identify beneficial ownership in multi-country financial transactions to protect against money laundering, terrorist financing and tax evasion, which have besieged developed and developing countries alike. Existing global efforts on tracing Beneficial Ownership are insufficient since verification is limited to self-disclosures and by national regulations. What is needed is a global framework to enable data exchange, cross-referencing, tracing and analysis of data on crossborder financial transactions.
Topic:
International Relations and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

678. Mexico in a Mirror

Author:
COMEXI
Publication Date:
12-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Mexican Council on Foreign Relations (COMEXI)
Abstract:
The Mexican Council on Foreign Relations (COMEXI), through its Energy Work Group, presents an analysis and a set of recommendations to guarantee the continuity of the Energy Reform, implemented in 2013. The Energy Work Group (GTE in Spanish) is a COMEXI-driven initiative that emerged in response to the need of addressing the challenges the energy sector has brought about for Mexico in the last years; it seeks to seize the chance to turn the country into a driver of development for all Mexicans. To this end, several experts, key players and leaders of energy companies in our country have joined forces to compile the best international practices in the field to have a positive impact on the strengthening of the energy market. Throughout its existence, the GTE has issued several recommendations concerning the instrumentation, implementation and effective date of the Energy Reform. These recommendations can be consulted on COMEXI’s official website. Also, many of them have been encompassed in the laws passed for the energy-market opening in Mexico. Hence, in this new release, we wish to contribute to guaranteeing the permanence of the Reform in the light of the unforeseeable circumstances we are currently undergoing, from the political ups and downs in Mexico to the renegotiation and future of NAFTA. This proposal summarizes some of the different alternatives Mexico could adopt to achieve this objective. Furthermore, it compares success stories in other regions of the world to shed light on the ups and downs of other country’s experiences and traces clear routes towards implementation. GTE will continue combining forces to contribute to the sector’s development and to consolid
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Mexico and Global Focus

679. Perspectiva de ciberseguridad en México

Author:
COMEXI
Publication Date:
07-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Mexican Council on Foreign Relations (COMEXI)
Abstract:
La ciberseguridad es un tema que aparece cada día con mayor frecuencia en nuestros medios y permea una amplia gama de campos. Los ciberataques que enfrentamos cada vez con mayor frecuencia pueden afectar desde la integridad de infraestructura crítica como los sistemas bancarios del país; a la incidencia de robos de identidades personales y otros delitos; y hasta contribuir a la cada vez más tenue credibilidad de datos e información general que compromete nuestra capacidad de discernir objetivamente en momentos en que tomamos decisiones importantes. Es un tema que afecta, incluso, a la seguridad emocional de los niños en un entorno social que se ha trasladado a lo digital. En resumen, afecta de alguna forma a todos los sectores sociales
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Mexico and Global Focus

680. Hacia una agenda estratégica entre México y China

Author:
COMEXI
Publication Date:
01-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Mexican Council on Foreign Relations (COMEXI)
Abstract:
El Centro de Estudios China-México (CECHIMEX) de la Facultad de Economía de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México tiene como objeto mejorar y profundizar el conocimiento de la socioeconomía china, enfatizando en las relaciones bilaterales de largo plazo entre ambos países. Actualmente no existe en México una institución de grandes dimensiones que se oriente específicamente al estudio de los temas relativos a China con el enfoque bilateral. La Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México es una institución privilegiada al respecto por el alto nivel científico de su comunidad y la diversidad de ciencias y campos de conocimiento que la integran. Así, y si bien el CECHIMEX enfatiza aspectos económicos, cuenta con la plena apertura y el mayor interés de incorporar desde sus inicios temas analizados por otras áreas y en otras facultades, tales como agricultura, filosofía, historia, arquitectura, ingeniería, lenguas, relaciones internacionales, ciencias políticas, entre muchas otras. En el portal del CECHIMEX se puede consultar los análisis e información generada.
Topic:
International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus