Abstract

This paper covers a small area of topics on the infamous organization, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). These topics include: a brief history of the organization, who ISIS is recruiting, why the recruits are joining, and the methods in which ISIS uses to recruit its members. Because of ISIS’s clever and effective recruiters and their methods of recruitment, they are on their way to establishing a caliphate, which refers to uniting all Muslims for the purpose of total, world domination.

Recruitment Methods of ISIS

According to communication strategist and cyber war expert advisor, James P. Farwell (2014), in the summer of 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) made an ostentatious appearance onto the worldwide stage, with the desire to institute its religious authority across the world (Farwell, 2014, p. 49). ISIS developed a caliphate, led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (p. 49). The organization’s primary tool for increasing its influence across the globe has been “brute violence” (Farwell, 2014, p. 49). However, through their methods of recruitment, they have tried to establish credibility and implement legitimacy by skillfully advertising their propaganda through social networking and cyber technology, making it look attractive to prospective fighters (Farwell, 2014, p. 49). This paper will discuss who ISIS is recruiting, why the recruits are joining ISIS, and the recruitment methods that the organization uses to gather members, in order to accomplish their purpose of conquering the world.

The slogan, “Baqiya wa tatamadad,” as stated by Amanda Borquaye (2016), is the slogan created by ISIS, meaning ‘“lasting and expanding,’” which has produced fearin many different areas around the world (p. 28). As recorded by author, Patrick Cockburn (2015), during summer of 2014, throughout the course of several weeks, ISIS altered politics in the Middle East (p. 1). Jihadi soldiers intertwined religious “fanaticism” and military experience to succeed in war against Iraqi, Syrian, and Kurdish forces (Cockburn, 2015, p. 1). ISIS aimed to destroy the Sunni opposition to the regimes in Iraq and Syria while it extended all throughout those areas (Cockburn, 2015, p. 1). ISIS did not show any concern that the list of their enemies grew greater over time, which included such areas as the United States and Iran (Cockburn, 2015, p. 1). As history has shown, ISIS generating enemies has not been a problem.  

As Iraq and Syria began to disperse into their separate communities, the Shia, Sunni, Kurds, Alawites, and Christians were struggling to survive (Cockburn, 2015, p. 1). If someone was not in compliance with the ideology of Islam, they were labeled as “apostates” and “polytheists” and forced to flee or were brutally murdered (Cockburn, 2015, p. 1). The scare tactics and the forms of public violence that ISIS started using to torment their adversaries were the most extreme that had been seen in several decades (Cockburn, 2015, p. 1). The members of ISIS desire to restructure the world by committing violent acts (Cockburn, 2015, p. 5). Parts of this ideology can be attributed to the war in Iraq in 2003 and the war in Syria in 2011 (Cockburn, 2015, p. 5). Because of events like these, ISIS has discovered a new battlefield in which they are able to fight and flourish (Cockburn, 2015, p. 5). They have managed to accomplish this task by recruiting as many jihadists as possible.

Who are they recruiting?

ISIS prompts their recruits to
institute and obtain a caliphate, which means ‘“a unified Muslim state run
according to a strict interpretation of Islamic law’” (Borquaye, 2016, p. 28).
As believed by dedicated jihadists, violence is the single method in which to
achieve this caliphate (Borquaye, 2016, p. 28). Over a significant amount of
time, ISIS has developed the abilities of recruiting Westerners, despite
viewing themselves as common enemies of the West and everything that Western
culture honors and represents (Borquaye, 2016, p. 28). According to Lisa Blaker
(2015), of the University of Maryland, there has been an estimated 3,000 or
more nationalists from Western countries that have immigrated to the Middle
East to join ISIS, contributing to the extremist movement (3).

Some of these Western nationalists that
ISIS is recruiting are American teenagers. According to Husna Haq, a correspondent
for the news organization, The Christian
Science Monitor, there are four reasons why teenagers, especially American
teens, are being seduced in joining ISIS (Blaker, 2015, p. 4). The first reason
is that organizations like ISIS are able to help young people to develop a
sense of identity (Blaker, 2015, p. 4). They intentionally target this
demographic because these teenagers are lost and have no sense of belonging or
purpose (Blaker, 2015, p. 4). Joining groups like these makes them feel like
they finally have a family and a purpose in life (Blaker, 2015, p. 4). The
second reason is that ISIS functions as an advanced propaganda machine (Blaker,
2015, p. 4). Because we live in the Internet age and it is popular among young
people, the Internet is an easy tool to lure members of this age group (Blaker,
2015, p. 4). The third reason is that ISIS creates a sense of religious
obligation, which is why it is so attractive to American teenagers (Blaker,
2015, p. 4). Lastly, ISIS has made females one of their biggest demographics
that they recruit (Blaker, 2015, p. 4).  The
demographic of young Muslim-American females seems to be very popular (Blaker,
2015, p. 4). The most common group of Muslim-American females who join are
those who feel isolated from their non-Muslim peers (Blaker, 2015, p. 4). Surprisingly,
there appears to be a great desire for the recruitment of females to join ISIS.

One of the most popular demographics
that ISIS recruits are women. In these cases, they have had success by women
recruiting other women (Blaker, 2015, p. 5). One of the most effective
recruiters is Umm Ubaydah, who immigrated from Europe to Syria in 2014 (Blaker,
2015, p. 5). She has a blog that she uses as a recruitment tool for women
(Blaker, 2015, p. 5). Her posts typically incorporate information on what to
bring, the appropriate type of clothing, a sufficient amount of money, and
includes information about what everyday life for women is like in Syria
(Blaker, 2015, p. 5). Additional information that she posts include support on
how to cope when leaving one’s family (Blaker, 2015, p. 5). A Senior Counter
Extremism Researcher for the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, Erin Marie
Saltman, claimed that women are successful as recruiters of other women because
there is a sense of comfort manifested when communicating with fellow women
(Blaker, 2015, p. 5). Conversing with a fellow woman provides a sense of consolation
of leaving one’s family (Blaker, 2015, p. 5-6). As reported by CNN, about 1 in
6 ISIS recruits are women (Blaker, 2015, p. 6).    

According to Alberto Cerzone and Anita
Peresin (2015), professors of counterterrorism at George C. Marshall Center, roughly
ten percent of ISIS’s Western recruits are females. As of 2015, it was
estimated that there were over 200 Western females who abandoned their homes to
join ISIS, the majority of them from France (Cerzone and Peresin, 2015, p.
499). The rest of the women were from other European nations, including the
United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, and Belgium, with the numbers constantly
rising (Cerzone and Peresin, 2015, p. 499). The International Centre for Study
of Radicalization at Kings College London, found the majority of these females
are between the ages of 16-24, but some are as young as thirteen (Cerzone and Peresin,
2015, p. 499). The majority of these females run away to the Middle East
without telling their parents, which raises concerns and questions for security
experts and the general Western culture (Cerzone and Peresin, 2015, p. 499).
They typically come from Muslim families or have converted to Islam, but in
either instance, families are appalled that their daughters are interested in
joining this “violent jihad” (Cerzone
and Peresin, 2015, p. 499).    

According to Lauren Vogel (2016), of CMAG News, ISIS has also been recruiting
doctors and health workers. The recruitment of these specialists began in 2015
when ISIS increased its focus of establishing control over territory to
institute a caliphate, which they believe will bring all of the Muslims together
to conquer the world (Vogel, 2016, p. 1). Since the summer of 2015, ISIS had
advertised the need for doctors through social media, blogs, splashy magazines,
and high-budget videos to showcase the state’s emerging health system (Vogel,
2016, p. 1). The advertisements show off the substantial amount of services
they provide, the latest facilities and equipment, experienced professionals,
and two medical schools (Vogel, 2016, p. 1). ISIS is especially eager for
medical professionals because a numerous amount of local doctors have left the
organization’s territory (Vogel, 2016, p. 1). There have been reports of
doctors who were forced to treat patients at gunpoint, some who were targeted
for arrest, and others who were executed for refusing to provide care (Vogel,
2016, p. 1).

Like others that ISIS recruits, there
are various reasons why they are recruiting medical professionals. Lorne
Dawson, co-director of the Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security
and Society, said, “‘It’s a storm of factors, from a quest of significance and
identity, to maybe some experience of discrimination’” (Vogel, 2016, p. 1). A
popular reason why these professionals join is because of social justice
(Vogel, 2016, p. 2). A large number of medical professionals are driven by
altruism, and the determination to assist others, and the radical message uses
that (Vogel, 2016, p. 2). Dawson says, “‘People find it amazing that a doctor
would want to be part of this ultraviolent group committing atrocities, but on
the flipside a lot of what ISIS does looks like humanitarian, social welfare
and medical work’” (Vogel, 2016, p. 2). Another possible factor that draws
doctors is discrimination (Vogel, 2016, p. 2). An American survey was done that
showed that 24% of Muslim doctors often were victims of religious discrimination
in their careers and 14% currently were experiencing it in the workplace
(Vogel, 2016, p. 2). No matter for what reasons medical professionals are
attracted to ISIS, they still go through the same radicalization process as any
other recruit (Vogel, 2016, p. 2).       

Methods of recruitment

ISIS’s skills of maneuvering media is a
significant factor in the way that they recruit (Borquaye, 2016, p. 28). ISIS
has used the Internet and online social media as a tool of circulating their
message (Borquaye, 2016, p. 28). They use these forms of media in hopes of
recruiting individuals, especially young people, to join them in the Middle
East and fight alongside them with other jihadists, or simply to support the
organization (Blaker, 2015, p. 1). These supporting roles typically fall to the
young women who join (Blaker, 2015, p. 1). ISIS has designated “sympathizers” to
carry out acts of violence wherever they may be when they are not able to
travel to the Middle East (Blaker, 2015, p. 1). Social media networks, such as
Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube do not have complete sanctions that restrict
ISIS propaganda from spreading across the world in real time (Blaker, 2015, p.
1). UK surveillance chief, Robert Hannigan, said, “ISIS and other extremist
groups use platforms like Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp to reach their target
audience in a language it understands. Their methods include exploiting popular
hashtags to disseminate their message” (Blaker, 2015, p. 4).

In 2015, John Greenberg, of the Tampa Bay Times, conducted research
which found that each day, there are up to 200,000 pro-ISIS tweets per day
(Blaker, 2015, p. 1). This study also counted re-tweets and some that were
generated through computer programs (Blaker, 2015, p. 1). Some of these tweets
even included death threats to Twitter’s CEO and other Twitter employees
(Blaker, 2015, p. 2). According to extremism analyst, J.M. Berger (2015), there
were 46,000 Twitter accounts that were owned by supporters of ISIS as of the
year 2014. Since then, Twitter has suspended a great number of accounts by ISIS
supporters, but the supporters simply create other accounts after suspension
(Berger, 2015). As of today, there is estimated to be around 40,000 accounts
owned by ISIS supporters, with about 2,000 who primarily tweet in English
(Berger, 2015).    

One form of social media advertising
that ISIS uses that is extremely effective is videos. According to a reporter
for TheBlaze, Sara Gonzales (2017),
ISIS posted a video this past April that featured a boy who seemed to be around
the age of six or seven years old, taking part in a double-beheading. The group
increasingly uploads videos that are sophisticated, good quality, and with
pictures that contain impressive visual effects (Blaker, 2015, p. 1). They post
various videos, each one different from another (Borquaye, 2016, p. 28). The
goal is to make a different video that will appeal to each of the demographics that
they are trying to reach (Borquaye, 2016, p. 28). Their most significant
speeches were uploaded to the Internet in seven languages and the videos they
post present similar violent characteristics to those used in Hollywood films
(Borquaye, 2016, p. 28). Many of the videos that they publish have music with
lyrics that have been translated to English and various other European
languages (Blaker, 2015, p. 3). The newest videos that they have published
feature English-speaking jihadists (Blaker, 2015, p. 3). Sean Heuston, who
teaches English and film studies at The Citadel, has done extensive research on
extremist video propaganda (Blaker, 2015, p. 3). He said, ‘“It’s
actually surprising how contemporary and hip-looking some of these things are,
especially considering the fact that the messages that they are promoting are
essentially medieval’” (Blaker, 2015, p. 3).  

This
sort of recruiting technique has enabled the organization to disperse powerful
and emotional images (Farwell, 2014, p. 50). This narrative emphasizes that the
strength and dominance of ISIS is increasing, asserting that full control is
inevitable (Farwell, 2014, p. 50). Many of these images are intended to portray
the organization’s members as fearsome warriors by showing gruesome beheadings
and executions that are meant to torment their adversaries (Farwell, 2014, p.
50). However, ISIS also post images that display foot soldiers eating candy
bars and holding cats, communicating that although ISIS is strictly Islamic,
they also advocate for the welfare of people, and not just killing them
(Farwell, 2014, p. 50). As written by Imran Awan (2017), ISIS also portrays the
fighters in their videos with a “‘moral conscious’” by showing them helping and
protecting civilians (p. 139). A number of their videos feature members
visiting fighters in infirmaries and handing out candy to children (Awan, 2017,
p. 139). This shows the attempt to showcase the supposed compassionate feature of
ISIS.   

Additionally,
ISIS has developed their own app, which a person could download for free in
order to stay updated with current information on the group (Awan, 2017, p. 139).
The app was titled “‘The Dawn of Glad Tidings’” (Awan, 2017, p. 139). However,
the app was detected and suspended after it (Awan, 2017, p. 139). Once the app
was downloaded, users were able to view tweets, links, hashtags, pictures,
videos and comments on their own accounts (Awan, 2017, p. 139). The majority of
the information on the app was controlled by ISIS’s “social media arm” (Awan,
2017, p. 139).   

Dr.
Anne Speckhard, Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University, and researcher,
Lorand Bodo (2017), conducted a short study, measuring the dissemination of
ISIS propaganda on the Internet. The study mainly included observing search
engines, such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo (Speckhard and Bodo, 2017). They based
their study on prior research that was gathered from Facebook (Speckhard and
Bodo, 2017). They used hashtags, keywords and phrases in English and Arabic
that were familiar to ISIS members, endorsers, and distributors on social
networks (Speckhard and Bodo, 2017). As they expected, they found a good number
of social network accounts, Internet sites, and forums that were promoting ISIS
propaganda (Speckhard and Bodo, 2017). Interestingly enough, they found that
each one of those sources were connected to the same source, which they called
the “Daily Harvester” (Speckhard and Bodo, 2017).

In
this particular situation, the Daily Harvester is referred to as “Abu Abdellah
Al-Ifriqi” (Speckhard and Bodo, 2017). It is presumed that Abu Abdella is an
official representative of ISIS (Speckhard and Bodo, 2017). Speckhard and Bodo
observed Abu Abdellah over the course of a month, while determining the
keywords and phrases that he was using to spread his message (2017). They found
four specific stages that surfaced in monitoring his activity (Speckhard and
Bodo, 2017). First, Abdellah observed official ISIS media channels, like Amaq
News Agency and Al-Hayat Media (Speckhard and Bodo, 2017). Second, he gathered
audio, files, news reports, pictures, and videos, in which he uploaded into one
document (Speckhard and Bodo, 2017). Third, Abdellah posted documents only to
two websites, which were justpaste.it and addpost.it (Speckhard and Bodo,
2017). These “‘paste-websites’” permit any person to post a link that may be
shared (Speckhard and Bodo, 2017). Lastly, he posted the generated link on
social networking sites, forums, and various different websites to reach as
many individuals as he can, with a wide “compendium” of the latest ISIS
propaganda (Speckhard and Bodo, 2017).

However, Abu Abdellah is not the sole Daily Harvester (Speckhard and Bodo, 2017). There are many Daily Harvesters, each one as dangerous as the other (Speckhard and Bodo, 2017). They are extremely dangerous because they are able to disseminate large quantities of ISIS propaganda, with just a click of a link, which makes it available to anybody (Speckhard and Bodo, 2017). Essentially, anybody who is capable of maneuvering Google can attain this information and simply input it into Google Translator to see and read in their own language (Speckhard and Bodo, 2017). Due to the ease of access of this information, it would be hard to stop or even attempt to counteract these methods that ISIS uses to recruit its members.   

Conclusion

The
goal of ISIS from the beginning was to develop a caliphate, in which they would
unite all Muslims to achieve global dominance (Vogel, 2016, p. 1). Thus far,
they have taken steps to accomplish that by performing significant acts of
violence and making themselves known on the Internet, mainly through social
networking sites (Farwell, 2014, p. 49). Popular ways of doing this are
creating high-quality videos, and tweeting thousands of times a day from
thousands of pro-ISIS Twitter accounts (Berger, 2015). Because of their
cleverness and the forms ISIS uses to promote their propaganda, it is not an
outrageous thought that total domination could be inevitable (Farwell, 2014, p.
50).

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