EllaMinty. Social media and the Islamic state: Can public relations succeed where conventional diplomacy failed?. London, NY: Routledge, 2020, XV, 98 pp. £29.99 (paperback) (ISBN 9780367188160).

Abstract

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), formerly called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or-in ISIL-critical Arabian countries-‫داعش‬ (Daesh), was not a state under international law but a pseudoreligious terroristic organization located in Northern Syria and Northern Iraq; however, ISIL operated worldwide, performing deadly attacks against "giaours." ISIL was a theocracy based upon the idea of a Sunni-Islamic Wahhabi caliphate. Similar to one of its antecedents, al-Qaeda, and to other jihadist groups, ISIL made and makes use of digital media (Atwan, 2015), especially social media, for its public relations (PR) and for recruitment (Gates & Podder, 2015). In addition, it digitally published the English-language magazines Dabiq and Rumiyah as part of its strategic communication (Kling, Ilhan, Stock, & Henkel, 2018).