This important work, edited by an expert on terrorism, focuses on the 21st-century struggle for strategic influence and ways in which states can neutralize the role of new media in spreading terrorist propaganda.In an era where anyone can have access to the Internet or other media forms that make widespread communication easy, terrorists and insurgents can spread their messages with complete freedom, creating challenges for national security. Influence Warfare: How Terrorists and Governments Fight to Shape Perceptions in a War of Ideas focuses on the core of the ongoing struggle for strategic influence and, particularly, how states can counter the role media and the Internet play in radicalizing new agents of terrorism.As the book makes clear, governments need to find ways to effectively confront non-state adversaries at all levels of the information domain and create an understanding of strategic communications within a broad range of technologies. The essays from the international group of authors who contributed to this work offer a deeper understanding of the ongoing struggle. Influence Warfare also provides a set of case studies that illustrate how the means and methods of strategic influence can impact a nation's security.

Case studies

Foreword by Bruce HoffmanPrefaceAcknowledgments1. IntroductionJames J. F. Forest and Frank Honkus, IIIPART I: TERRORISM AND STRATEGIC INFLUENCE2. Jihad.com 2.0: The New Social Media and the Changing Dynamics of Mass PersuasionAidan Kirby Winn and Vera L. Zakem3. When Fatwas Clash Online: Terrorist Debates on the InternetGabriel Weimann4. New Media's Influence on the Assessment of Publicly Communicated Terrorist ThreatsM. Karen Walker5. The Terrorist Spectacular and the Ladder of Terrorist SuccessCori E. DauberPART II: IMPLICATIONS FOR COMBATING TERRORISM6. The Strategic Dimensions of Terrorism: Concepts, Countermeasures, and Conditions in the Search for SecurityFrank L. Jones7. The Strategic Influence Deficit of TerrorismMax Abrahms8. Challenges to Shaping Civilian Attitudes and Behaviors in a Theater of OperationsChristopher Paul, Todd C. Helmus, and Russell W. Glenn9. The Nonkinetic Aspects of Kinetic EffortsJoshua Alexander Geltzer10. Online Recruitment, Radicalization, and Reconnaissance: Challenges for Law EnforcementSimon O'Rourke11. Who's Winning the Battle for Narrative? Al-Qaida versus the United States and Its AlliesSebastian Gorka and David Kilcullen12. Using the Internet to Uncover Terrorism's Root CausesJoshua SinaiPART III: CASE STUDIES OF STRATEGIC INFLUENCE13. U.S. Strategic Communication Efforts during the Cold WarDaniel Baracskay14. The Cook Report and Perceptions of Loyalists in Northern Ireland: Lessons for CounterterrorismJames Dingley15. Al-Qaida's Strategy for Influencing Perceptions in the Muslim WorldSammy Salama and Joe-Ryan Bergoch16. The Information Operations War Between Israel and Hizballah during the Summer of 2006Guermantes E. Lailari17. Strategic Uses of the Internet by Hizbut Tahrir-IndonesiaFrank Hairgrove, Douglas M. McLeod, and Dhavan V. ShahPART IV: CONCLUSION18. Conclusion: Assessing the Conceptual BattlespaceJoshua Alexander Geltzer and James J. F. ForestBibliographyIndexAbout the Editor and Contributors