Abstract
With the rise of global actors declaring statehood, the place branding competition has expanded beyond internationally recognized cities and nations. ISIS and al-Qaeda insist the establishment of the Caliphate defined both as a place and identity is paramount to reuniting Muslims under a supranational Islamic government. This study explores how each group presents the Caliphate as a place brand and identity construct in the online environment. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study investigates the discursive formation of place identity in ISIS and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) Arabic-language newsletters and examines the projections of Caliphate governance in over 3200 images. Using names, slogans, logos, and colours, ISIS targeted a niche Arab Muslim readership with contextual messages in al-Naba’ newsletter, while AQAP presented al-Masra as an Islamic, mainstream publication reinforcing the stated goal of liberating Jerusalem. The discursive strategies in al-Naba’ and al-Masra visuals further positioned ISIS as a self-governing Caliphate and AQAP as one of many sister brands with some capacity to govern. The study discusses the overlaps and distinctions between place and proto-state branding strategies and highlights the communicative threats the latter poses to cities and nations’ branding efforts worldwide.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
By 2016, Saudi Arabia, the only remaining Muslim country using Hijri Calendar in government, adopted the Gregorian Calendar (Al-Araby 2016).
References
Agnew, J.A. 2014. Place and Politics: The Geographical Mediation of State and Society. New York: Routledge.
Al-Araby. 2016. Saudi Arabia Abandons Islamic Calendar “To Save Money”. Al-Araby, 3 October. https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2016/10/3/saudi-arabia-abandons-islamic-calendar-to-save-money.
Al-Furqan Media. 2007. Announcement of Ministry Formation for the Islamic State of Iraq, Archive.org. https://archive.org/details/The_Islamic_State_of-Iraq. Accessed 23 Mar 2016.
Al-Furqan Media. 2009. Second Ministry Formation for the Islamic State of Iraq, Archive.org. https://archive.org/details/Al-Tashkeelah-2-Le-Dwla-Iraq-Islamic. Accessed 23 Mar 2016.
Al-Furqan Media. 2016. Sarh al-Khilafa (The Structure of the Caliphate). https://ia600603.us.archive.org/4/items/ee997b74_mohmal_720/720.mp4. Accessed 15 Dec 2016.
Al-Muqrin, A.H. 2008. A Message to Yemeni Youth. Sada al-Malahim, July.
Al-Qur’an Info. 2018. Qur’an Transliteration and Translation. http://al-quran.info/#2. Accessed 30 Dec 2018.
Al-Zawahiri. 2005. Letter to Al-Zarqawi, Global Security. http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/report/2005/zawahiri-zarqawi-letter_9jul2005.htm. Accessed 27 Feb 2016.
Anholt, S. 2008. From Nation Branding to Competitive Identity—The Role of Brand Management as a Component of National Policy. In Nation Branding: Concepts, Issues, Practice, ed. K. Dinnie. Oxford, UK: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Anholt, S. 2013. Beyond the Nation Brand, the Importance of Image and Identity in International Relations. The Journal of Public Diplomacy 2 (1): 1–7.
Ansar Al-Shariah in the Arabian Peninsula’s Newspaper Al-Masra. 2019. Jihadology. https://jihadology.net/category/al-masra-newspaper/. Accessed 24 Oct 2019.
Aronczyk, M. 2008. “Living the Brand”: Nationality, Globality, and the Identity Strategies of Nation Branding Consultants. International Journal of Communication 2: 41–65.
Baines, P.R., and N.J. O’Shaughnessy. 2014. Al-Qaeda Messaging Evolution and Positioning, 1998–2008: Propaganda Analysis Revisited. Public Relations Inquiry 3 (2): 163–191. https://doi.org/10.1177/2046147X14536723.
Barrett, R. 2017. Beyond the Caliphate: Foreign Fighters and the Threat of Returnees. http://thesoufancenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Beyond-the-Caliphate-Foreign-Fighters-and-the-Threat-of-Returnees-TSC-Report-October-2017-v3.pdf.
Becker, K. 2009. /r/and the Construction of Place Identity on New York City’s Lower East Side 1. Journal of Sociolinguistics 13 (5): 634–658.
Bennabi, M. 2000. The Idea of an Islamic Commonwealth, 2nd ed. Damascus, Syria: Dar Al-Fikr.
Benvenisti, M. 1996. City of Stone: The Hidden History of Jerusalem. Berkley, CA: University of California Press.
Central Media Diwan. 2017. The Epic Battles of Mosul. Al-Naba’ 89, July. https://azelin.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/the-islamic-state-al-nabacc84_-newsletter-89.pdf.
Chavez, N., and E. Levenson. 2017. Terror Suspect Wanted to Attack People on Brooklyn Bridge, Documents Say. CNN, 2 November. http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/02/us/new-york-terror-attack/index.html.
Clarke, C.P., and Metz, S. 2016. ISIS vs. Al Qaida: Battle of the Terrorist Brands, 1–2. The National Interest, 16 August. https://nationalinterest.org/print/blog/the-buzz/isis-vs-al-qaida-battle-the-terrorist-brands-17370.
Cook, J., and G. Vale. 2018. From Daesh to ‘Diaspora’: Tracing the Women and Minors of Islamic State. https://icsr.info/2018/07/23/from-daesh-to-diaspora-tracing-the-women-and-minors-of-islamic-state/.
El Damanhoury, K., et al. 2018a. Examining the Military-Media Nexus in ISIS’s Provincial Photography Campaign. Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict. https://doi.org/10.1080/17467586.2018.1432869.
El Damanhoury, K., et al. 2018b. Examining the Military-Media Nexus in ISIS’s Provincial Photography Campaign. Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict: Pathways Toward Terrorism and Genocide. https://doi.org/10.1080/17467586.2018.1432869.
El Damanhoury, K. 2019. Picturing Statehood during ISIS’s Caliphal Days. In The Media World of ISIS, ed. M. Krona and R. Penington, 77–100. Bloomington, IA: Indiana University Press.
Deffner, A., and T. Metaxas. 2010. Place Marketing, Local Identity and Branding Cultural Images in Southern Europe: Nea Ionia, Greece and Pafos, Cyprus. In Towards Effective Place Brand Management: Branding European Cities and Regions, ed. G.J. Ashworth and M. Kavaratzis, 49–68. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing Inc.
Denny, F.M. 1975. The Meaning of “Ummah” in the Qurʾān. History of Religions 15 (1): 34–70.
Dinnie, K. 2008. Nation Branding: Concepts, Issues, Practice, Nation Branding: Concepts, Issues, Practice. Oxford, UK: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Dinnie, K. 2016. Nation Branding: Concepts, Issues, Practice, 2nd ed. London: Routledge.
El-Badawy, E., M. Comerford, and P. Welby. 2015. Inside the Jihadi Mind: Understanding Ideology and Propaganda. Centre on Religion & Geopolitics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13398-014-0173-7.2.
Eurocities. 2010. A Shared Vision on City Branding in Europe. Brussels. http://nws.eurocities.eu/MediaShell/media/EUROCITIES_Brochure_FINAL_web_19Nov10-SMUL_10638.pdf.
Fahmy, S. 2016. Visual Framing in the Islamic State. Latvia: Riga.
Govers, R. 2015. Rethinking Virtual and Online Place Branding. In Rethinking Place Branding: Comprehensive Brand Development for Cities and Regions, ed. M. Kavaratzis, G. Warnaby, and G.J. Ashworth, 73–83. Berlin: Springer.
Govers, R., and F. Go. 2009. Place Branding: Glocal, Virtual and Physical Identities, Constructed, Imagined and Experienced. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Halverson, J., S. Corman, and H.L. Goodall. 2011. Master Narratives of Islamist Extremism. Berlin: Springer.
Holbrook, D. 2017. The Spread of Its Message: Studying the Prominence of Al-Qaida Materials in UK Terrorism Investigations. Perspectives on Terrorism 11 (6): 89–100.
Ibn Manzur, A.A.-F.M. 1975. Lisan Al-Arab (The Arabs’ Tongue). Cairo: Dar Al-Maaref Al-Masriya.
Ingram, H.J. 2016a. An Analysis of Inspire & Dabiq: Lessons From Aqap and Islamic State’s Propaganda War. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2016.1212551.
Ingram, H.J. 2016b. How ISIS Survives Defeat : Propaganda and Decisive Minorities. Sustainable Security. https://sustainablesecurity.org/2016/09/26/how-isis-survives-defeat-propaganda-and-decisive-minorities/.
Kalandides, A. 2011. The Problem with Spatial Identity: Revisiting the “Sense of Place”. Journal of Place Management and Development 4 (1): 28–39. https://doi.org/10.1108/17538331111117142.
Kaneva, N. 2011. Nation Branding: Toward an Agenda for Critical Research. International Journal of Communication 5: 117–141.
Kaneva, N., and D. Popescu. 2011. National identity Lite: Nation Branding in Post-communist Romania and Bulgaria. International Journal of Cultural Studies 14 (2): 191–207. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367877910382181.
Kavaratzis, M., and M.J. Hatch. 2013. The Dynamics of Place Brands: An Identity-Based Approach to Place Branding Theory. Marketing Theory 13 (1): 68–86. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470593112467268.
Kavaratzis, M., and A. Kalandides. 2015. Rethinking the Place Brand: The Interactive Formation of Place Brands and the Role of Participatory Place Branding. Environment and Planning 47: 1368–1382. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X15594918.
Kendall, E. 2018. Contemporary Jihadi Militancy in Yemen: How is the threat evolving? https://www.mei.edu/sites/default/files/publications/MEIPolicyPaper_Kendall_7.pdf.
Kinney, A.B., A.P. Davis, and Y. Zhang. 2018. Theming for Terror: Organizational Adornment in Terrorist Propaganda. Poetics 69 (April): 27–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2018.05.001.
Knott, B., A. Fyall, and I. Jones. 2015. The Nation Branding Opportunities Provided by a Sport Mega-Event: South Africa and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management 4 (1): 46–56.
Kunzmann, K. 2004. Culture, Creativity and Spatial Planning. Town Planning Review 75 (4): 383–404.
Lemieux, A.F., et al. 2014. Inspire Magazine: A Critical Analysis of Its Significance and Potential Impact Through the Lens of the Information, Motivation, and Behavioral Skills Model. Terrorism and Political Violence 26 (2): 354–371. https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2013.828604.
Lorenzo-Dus, N., A. Kinzel, and L. Walker. 2018. Representing the West and “Non-believers” in the Online Jihadist Magazines Dabiq and Inspire. Critical Studies on Terrorism. Routledge 11 (3): 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2018.1471081.
Lucarelli, A., and P. Olof Berg. 2011. City Branding: A State-of-the-art Review of the Research Domain. Journal of Place Management and Development 4 (1): 9–27.
Macdonald, S., et al. 2018. Online Jihadist Magazines and the “Religious Terrorism” Thesis. Critical Studies on Terrorism. Routledge 11 (3): 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2018.1471098.
Madrazo, A. 2018. Recruiting Followers for the Caliphate : A Narrative Analysis of Four Jihadist Magazines. University of Central Florida. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=6786&context=etd.
Mayes, R. 2008. A Place in the Sun: The Politics of Place, Identity and Branding. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 4 (2): 124–135.
McCants, W. 2015. The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Milton, D. 2016. Communication Breakdown: Unraveling the Islamic State’s Media Efforts, Combatting Terrorism Center at West Point. https://www.ctc.usma.edu/v2/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/ISMedia_Online.pdf.
Milton, D. 2018. Down, But Not Out: An Updated Examination of the Islamic State’s Visual Propaganda. https://ctc.usma.edu/app/uploads/2018/08/Pulling-Back-the-Curtain.pdf.
Monaci, S. 2017. Explaining the Islamic State’s Online Media Strategy: A Transmedia Approach. International Journal of Communication 11: 2842–2860. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0032-1304221.
Noordman, T.B.J. 2004. Cultuur in de citymarketing. The Hague: Elsevier Reed Business Publications.
Novenario, C.M.I. 2016. Differentiating Al Qaeda and the Islamic State Through Strategies Publicized in Jihadist Magazines. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2016.1151679.
O’Neil, A. 2015. The 13th Juror: The radicalization of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. CNN, 30 March. http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/27/us/tsarnaev-13th-juror-jahar-radicalization/index.html.
Olidort, J. 2016. Inside the Caliphate’s Classroom: Textbooks, Guidance Literature, and Indoctrination Methods of the Islamic State. Washington, DC. http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/pubs/PolicyFocus147-Olidort.pdf.
Peterson, J.E. 2006. Qatar and the World: Branding for a Micro-State. Middle East Journal 60 (4): 732–748.
Pew Research Center. 2011. The Future of the Global Muslim Population: Projections for 2010-2030. http://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2011/01/FutureGlobalMuslimPopulation-WebPDF-Feb10.pdf.
Seisdedos, G. 2006. State of the Art of City Marketing in European Cities. http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&btnG=Search&q=intitle:State+of+the+art+of+city+marketing+in+european+cities#0%5Cn.
Simons, G. 2018. Brand ISIS: Interactions of the Tangible and Intangible Environments. Journal of Political Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1080/15377857.2018.1501928.
Skillicorn, D.B. 2015. Empirical Assessment of Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Taliban Propaganda. In 2015 IEEE International Conference on Intelligence and Security Informatics (ISI), 61–66. https://doi.org/10.1109/isi.2015.7165940.
Skinner, H. 2008. ‘The Emergence and Development of Place Marketing’s Confused Identity. Journal of Marketing Management 24 (9–10): 915–928. https://doi.org/10.1362/026725708X381966.
Skinner, H. 2018. Who Really Creates the Place Brand? Considering the Role of User Generated Content in Creating and Communicating a Place Identity. Communication & Society 31 (4): 9–25. https://doi.org/10.15581/003.31.4.9-25.
Subotić, J. 2017. JAT—More Than Flying: Constructing Yugoslav Identity in the Air. East European Politics and Societies and Cultures 32 (4): 671–692.
Tecmen, A. 2017. Nation Branding and Right to Brand/Brand Turkey. Research and Policy on Turkey 2 (1): 76–89. https://doi.org/10.1080/23760818.2016.1272269.
The Islamic State’s Newsletter Al-Naba’. 2019. Jihadology. https://jihadology.net/?s=naba. Accessed 24 Oct 2019.
The Islamic State’s Newsletter Al-Naba’ #22. 2016. Jihadology. https://jihadology.net/2016/03/15/new-issue-of-the-islamic-states-newsletter-al-naba-22/. Accessed 24 Oct 2019.
The Islamic State’s Newsletter Al-Naba’ 81. 2017. Jihadology. https://jihadology.net/2017/05/18/new-issue-of-the-islamic-states-newsletter-al-naba-81/. Accessed 24 Oct 2019.
U.S. Department of Justice. 2017. U.S. v. Akayed Ullah Federal Criminal Complaint, 10. https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/press-release/file/1017396/download.
Wang, R. 2012. Hey, “Red China” is Brand New: A Case Study of China’s Self-depicted National Identity on its Promotional Video “Experience China”. Quarterly Journal of Chinese Studies 2 (1): 33–66.
Wignell, P., S. Tan, and K.L. O’Halloran. 2017. Under the Shade of AK47 s: A Multimodal Approach to Violent Extremist Recruitment Strategies for Foreign Fighters. Critical Studies on Terrorism. https://doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2017.1319319.
Winkler, C. 2015. Challenging Communities: A Perspective About, from, and by Argumentation. In Disturbing Argument, ed. C.H. Palczewski. New York: Routledge.
Winter, C. 2015a. Documenting the Virtual ‘Caliphate’. http://www.quilliamfoundation.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/FINAL-documenting-the-virtual-caliphate.pdf.
Winter, C. 2015b. The Virtual ‘Caliphate’: Understanding Islamic State’s Propaganda Strategy. http://www.quilliamfoundation.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/publications/free/the-virtual-caliphate-understanding-islamic-states-propaganda-strategy.pdf.
Winter, C. 2018. Apocalypse, Later: A Longitudinal Study of the Islamic State Brand. Critical Studies in Media Communication 35 (1): 103–121. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295036.2017.1393094.
Wulff, H. 2013. Ways of Seeing ireland’s Green: From Ban to the Branding of a Nation. The Scenes and Society 8 (2): 233–239.
Zantides, E. 2016. Looking Inwards, Designing Outwards: National Identity and Print Advertisements of the Cyprus Tourism Organisation. Visual Studies 31 (3): 248–259.
Zelin, A.Y. 2015. Picture or It Didn’t Happen: A Snapshot of the Islamic State’s Official Media Output. Perspectives on Terrorism 9 (4): 85–97.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
El Damanhoury, K. Constructing place identity: ISIS and Al-Qaeda’s branding competition over the Caliphate. Place Brand Public Dipl 16, 265–278 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41254-019-00155-1
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41254-019-00155-1