Historical Narratives in Islamic State Propaganda

Drawing on a large set of official Arabic-language publications of the Islamic State, this thesis provides an in-depth examination of historical narratives in Islamic State propaganda that spans the period 2014-October 2019 (i.e. the tenure of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as the group’s first caliph). The thesis argues that a set of themes emerge from the historical narratives deployed: namely, the in-group/out-group and crisis/solution dichotomies, steadfastness, ineligible in-group critique and historical legitimacy. These themes form the building blocks of a simple system of meaning for the group’s members and supporters, and without historical narratives these themes would make little sense. The themes are repeated seemingly ad nauseam, likely as part of a strategy to ensure that the group is staying ‘on message,’ and they are dovetailed by a theory of history that is ‘strongly’ and ‘weakly’ deterministic in nature, reinforcing the system of meaning. Moreover, this thesis finds that in constructing historical narratives, the group makes use of source materials that would generally be considered ‘authentic’ and ‘reliable’ in the realm of culture in which the group operates

LOOKING AT ALAWITES

This paper aims to provide some original discussion on the traditional Alawite religion, looking at current historical narratives of the Alawites during the French Mandate period in what in 1936 became the Syrian Republic. The paper also considers conceptions of identity in the modern era and perceptions of the Syrian civil war a Sunni-Shi’a conflict.  Finally, it examines the position of Alawites in the current civil war in Syria, and discusses future options for the community