WASHINGTON — Along with its surprising military success, the Islamic State group has demonstrated a skill and sophistication with social media previously unseen in extremist groups.
And just as the United States has begun an aggressive air campaign against the militants, Richard A. Stengel, the under secretary of state for public diplomacy, believes the United States has no choice but to counter their propaganda with a forceful online response.
“Sending a jazz trio to Budapest is not really what we want to do in 2014,” said Mr. Stengel, referring to the soft-edged cultural diplomacy that sent musicians like Dave Brubeck on tours of Eastern-bloc capitals to counter communism during the Cold War. “We have to be tougher, we have to be harder, particularly in the information space, and we have to hit back.”
The State Department division that Mr. Stengel heads has tried a range of approaches for engaging with the Middle East since 9/11, from slick, Madison Avenue-style ads to traditional international-visitors and exchange programs.
PhotoRichard A. Stengel
Credit
Justin Lane/European Pressphoto Agency
But now, digital operators at the State Department are directly engaging young people — and sometimes jihadists — on websites popular in Arab countries, publishing a stream of anti-Islamic State messages, and one somewhat shocking video, on Facebook or YouTube or Twitter, using the hashtag #Think Again Turn Away.
Critics have questioned whether this effort is large, nimble or credible enough. The United States’ image in the Middle East — which seemed perched on the verge of hopefulness when President Obama delivered a closely watched speech in Cairo in 2009 — is now at “the bottom of a sliding scale,” said Lina Khatib, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center, in Beirut.
Mr. Stengel, who joined the Obama administration in February after seven years as managing editor of Time magazine, is focusing his efforts on an approach that reflects Mr. Obama’s insistence that countries like Iraq must take responsibility for their own defense.
While Secretary of State John Kerry was assembling a military coalition against the Islamic State on his most recent trip to the Mideast, Mr. Stengel met with Arab officials to create what he called in an interview “a communications coalition, a messaging coalition, to complement what’s going on the ground.”
The Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communication is the State Department’s spearhead in this fight and potentially defines the kind of pushback it would like to see friendly countries in the region engage in.
Formed in 2010 to counter messaging from Al Qaeda and its affiliated groups, the interagency unit engages in online forums in Arabic, Urdu, Punjabi and Somali. It recently added English, making itself more transparent — and more open to critical scrutiny.
Posting on Twitter, Tumblr, YouTube and Facebook, members of the unit question claims made by the Islamic State, trumpet the militants’ setbacks and underscore the human cost of the militants’ brutality. Terror groups in Somalia and Nigeria are also targeted.
Recent Twitter posts quoted Muslim scholars as saying “#ISIS murder of aid worker a violation of Islamic law” and described a Turkish nurse as “tired of treating #ISIS fighters so they can go behead people.” The Twitter posts go out under the seal of the State Department.
Continue reading the main storyAmid Airstrikes Against ISIS, Refugees Flee Syria
A visual guide to the crisis in Iraq and Syria.
Iraq
215,303
as of Sept. 15
Iraq
215,303
as of Sept. 15
Source: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Source: Based on Defense Department statements
Attack on
Khorasan group
in this area
Locations hit
by airstrikes
Approximate
areas under full
Islamic State control
Attack on Khorasan
group near this area
Locations hit
by airstrikes
Approximate
areas under full
Islamic State control
ISIS locations hit
by airstrikes
Sources: Defense Department; Institute for the Study of War
Sources: Satellite images on left from DigitalGlobe, via Google Earth; images of targeted structures from the Defense Department
Strikes Reported
Each Day
KURDISH
AUTONOMOUS
REGION
Near Mount Sinjar
At least 13 strikes
Near Mosul Dam
At least 35 Strikes
Near Erbil
At least 20 Strikes
Strikes Reported Each Day
KURDISH
AUTONOMOUS
REGION
Near Mount Sinjar
At least 13 strikes
Near Erbil
At least 20 Strikes
Near Mosul Dam
At least 35 Strikes
Mount Sinjar
Thousands of Yazidi refugees were trapped on the mountain after fleeing Islamist fighters. Targets included:
armed vehicles personnel carriers armored vehicle Humvee trucks mortar position checkpoints
Mosul Dam
American strikes allowed Kurdish fighters to regain the dam, which they lost two weeks ago. Targets included:
armed vehicles Humvees antiaircraft guns armored vehicle fighting positions checkpoints I.E.D.s personnel carriers
Erbil
Strikes in this area helped repel militants approaching the regional capital. Targets included:
armed vehicles mobile artillery vehicles mortar positions mine-resistant vehicle
Note: Strikes were not reported comprehensively day by day, so some may be missing from daily tallies.
Red dots are vehicles visible in satellite imagery
Sinjar Mountains
Elevation 4,449 ft.
Area of
assessed
satellite
imagery
ABOUT 250 MILES TO BAGHDAD
Area of assessed
satellite imagery
Red indicates
vehicles on mountain
Sinjar Mountains
Elevation 4,449 ft.
Source: Vehicle locations from satellite imagery by DigitalGlobe via Amnesty International
January 1 to May 31
Over 151 days, families, on average, were displaced daily.
Anbar Province
321,210 families
known displaced
Months before it became something of a household name, ISIS took control of much of Anbar Province, displacing an estimated 500,000 Iraqis.
June 1 to July 31
Over 61 days, families, on average, were displaced daily.
Anbar Province
321,210 families
known displaced
Another half-million Iraqis were displaced in June and July when ISIS captured Mosul and advanced south toward Baghdad.
August 1 to August 6
Over 6 days, families, on average, were displaced daily.
Anbar Province
321,210 families
known displaced
In early August, ISIS seized several towns under Kurdish control, displacing Yazidis, Christians and other religious minority groups. Although the United Nations says that the capture of Sinjar may have displaced that number is not yet included in the official data.
Note: The United Nations estimates one Iraqi family is equal to six individuals. Source: IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix
Mosul
Islamist militants have controlled Iraq's second-largest city since June 10.
Mosul Dam
Captured by
militants on
Thursday.
ABOUT 150 MILES
TO BAGHDAD
Mahmour
Bombed by American
jets on Friday.
About 35
miles TO
ERBIL
Historic citadel
of Erbil
United States Consulate
is in this neighborhood
Mahmour
Bombed by
American jets
on Friday.
Mosul
Islamist militants have
controlled Iraq's second-largest
city since June 10.
Mosul Dam
Captured by militants
on Thursday.
About 35 miles
TO ERBIL
Historic citadel
of Erbil
United States Consulate
is in this neighborhood
Mahmour
Bombed by American
jets on Friday.
Mosul Dam
Captured by militants
on Thursday.
Sources: American and Kurdish officials
Click group names for more details.
Naqshbandia Order/J.R.T.N. »
Baathist
Active in: Diyala, Salahuddin
ISIS relationship: Fighting
Established in 2007, the group's reputed leader was a high-ranking deputy in Saddam Hussein's regime. The group is believed to have initially assisted ISIS in its push south from Mosul.
1920 Revolution Brigades »
Baathist
Active in: Diyala, Anbar
ISIS relationship: Fighting in some areas
Formed by disaffected Iraqi Army officers who were left without jobs after the Americans dissolved the military in 2003.
Islamic Army of Iraq »
Salafist
Active in: Diyala, Salahuddin, Anbar
ISIS relationship: Periodic fighting
ISIS has targeted family members of the leadership of this group, which has long had a presence in Diyala and has been involved in past sectarian battles.
Mujahedeen Army »
Salafist
Active in: Diyala, Salahuddin, Anbar
ISIS relationship: Truce
A nationalist Islamist group that advocates overthrowing the Iraqi government.
Khata'ib al-Mustapha »
Salafist
Active in: Diyala
ISIS relationship: Truce
Islamic militants who fight against the government.
Army of Muhammad »
Salafist
Active in: Anbar
ISIS relationship: Allies
Islamic militants who fight against the government.
Khata'ib Tawrat al-Ashreen »
Anti-government Sunni Tribe
Active in: Diyala, Salahuddin
ISIS relationship: Truce
Sunni tribes opposed to the Iraqi government.
Ansar al-Islam/Ansar al-Sunna »
Islamist Jihadist
Active in: Diyala
ISIS relationship: Fighting
An Al Qaeda-affiliated group that has led a number of deadly attacks in Iraq over the years.
Syrian RefugeesMost of the Syrians who have been displaced have fled to Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Nearly all of those fleeing to Iraq have gone to the Kurdish autonomous region.
Kurdish
autonomous
region
Thousands of
refugees at
destination
Displaced IraqisThe rapid advance of Sunni militants from Mosul toward Baghdad displaced an estimated 500,000 Iraqis in recent weeks, adding to the hundreds of thousands displaced earlier this year. Many have gone to the already crowded camps in the Kurdish autonomous region.
THOUSANDS OF REFUGEES
AT DESTINATION
Kurdish
autonomous
region
Syrian RefugeesMost of the Syrians who have been displaced have fled to Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Nearly all of those fleeing to Iraq have gone to the Kurdish autonomous region.
Displaced IraqisThe rapid advance of Sunni militants from Mosul toward Baghdad displaced an estimated 500,000 Iraqis in recent weeks, adding to the hundreds of thousands displaced earlier this year. Many have gone to the already crowded camps in the Kurdish autonomous region.
Source: United Nations
Ottoman Empire
Sykes-Picot Agreement
Current Boundaries
Ottoman provincial borders
Ottoman provincial borders
Independent Arab states
under French influence
Independent
Arab states under
British influence
Independent Arab states
under French influence
Independent
Arab states under
British influence
Ottoman Empire
Before WWI, the Middle East was divided into several administrative provinces under the Ottoman Empire. Modern Iraq is roughly made up of the Ottoman provinces of Mosul, Baghdad, and Basra.
Sykes-Picot Agreement
In 1916, Mark Sykes and François Georges-Picot, British and French diplomats, secretly drew the first map to divide up the Ottoman Empire, beginning a series of border negotiations that led to the establishment of British and French mandates in 1920.
Religious and Ethnic Regions Today
Iraq's current boundaries bring together different, often adversarial, groups under one mixed national identity that has been strained by conflict. Still, if Iraq were to split, partition would not be so simple as drawing new borders along religious or ethnic lines.
Sources: Rand, McNally & Co. World Atlas (1911 Ottoman Empire map); United Kingdom National Archives (Sykes-Picot); Dr. M. Izady, Columbia University’s Gulf 2000 project (religious and ethnic map)
Key
Border crossing
Crossing controlled by ISIS
Tanf
Controlled by
Syrian government
Yaroubia
Syrian
Kurdish
forces
Rabia
Iraqi Kurdish
pesh merga
Yaroubia
Controlled by
Syrian Kurdish forces
Rabia
Iraqi Kurdish
pesh merga
Syria and
Jordan
Karamah
Control Jordanian Army
The Jordanian army has increased security at the crossing, which remains open, but with little traffic.
Tanf
Control Syrian government
Bukamal
ControlISIS
Seized June 25
A local agreement between ISIS and the Nusra Front on June 25 effectively placed Bukamal under ISIS control. By June 30, ISIS had wrested full control of the town and border crossing.
Yaroubia
Control Syrian Kurdish forces
Seized October 2013
This side is controlled by Syrian Kurdish forces affiliated with a party that is engaged in a power struggle with Iraqi Kurdish leaders.
Iraq
Trebil
Control Unclear
ISIS took this crossing on June 22 after Iraqi forces fled, but recent reports of vehicle traffic from Jordan indicate that the crossing may be back the hands of the government.
Waleed
Control Unclear
ISIS took this crossing on June 22. The Iraqi government said that it is back in control of the crossing, but this could not be confirmed.
Qaim
Control ISIS
Seized June 20
ISIS took control of the municipal council, customs office, border crossing and Iraqi police station, increasing its already significant presence on the main route between Baghdad and Aleppo. The Iraqi government said it abandoned the crossing in a strategic move to concentrate forces in Baghdad.
Rabia
Control Iraqi Kurdish pesh merga
Seized June 10
Kurdish pesh merga forces secured this crossing on June 10 immediately following the fall of Mosul.
Sources: Caerus Associates, Long War Journal, Institute for the Study of War
Key
Sunni majority
Shiite majority
Christian majority
Mixed areas
2003: Before the Invasion
Before the American invasion, Baghdad’s major sectarian groups lived mostly side by side in mixed neighborhoods. The city’s Shiite and Sunni populations were roughly equal, according to Juan Cole, a University of Michigan professor and Middle East expert.
2009: Violence Fuels Segregation
Sectarian violence exploded in 2006. Families living in areas where another sect was predominant were threatened with violence if they did not move. By 2009 Shiites were a majority, with Sunnis reduced to about 10 percent to 15 percent of the population.
• Kadhimiya, a historically Shiite neighborhood, is home to a sacred Shiite shrine.
• Adhamiya, a historically Sunni neighborhood, contains the Abu Hanifa Mosque, a Sunni landmark.
• The Green Zone became the heavily fortified center of American operations during the occupation.
• Sadr City was the center of the insurgent Mahdi Army, led by the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr.
• Huriya was transformed in 2006 when the Mahdi Army pushed out hundreds of families in a brutal spasm of sectarian cleansing.
• More than 8,000 displaced families relocated to Amiriya, the neighborhood where the Sunni Awakening began in Baghdad.
• Adhamiya, a Sunni island in Shiite east Baghdad, was walled and restricted along with other neighborhoods in 2007 for security.
• Neighborhoods east of the Tigris River are generally more densely populated than areas to the west.
2003: Before the Invasion
Before the American invasion, Baghdad’s major sectarian groups lived mostly side by side in mixed neighborhoods. The city’s Shiite and Sunni populations were roughly equal, according to Juan Cole, a University of Michigan professor and Middle East expert.
• Kadhimiya, a historically Shiite neighborhood, is home to a sacred Shiite shrine.
• Adhamiya, a historically Sunni neighborhood, contains the Abu Hanifa Mosque, a Sunni landmark.
• The Green Zone became the heavily fortified center of American operations during the occupation.
• Sadr City was the center of the insurgent Mahdi Army, led by the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr.
2009: Violence Fuels Segregation
Sectarian violence exploded in 2006. Families living in areas where another sect was predominant were threatened with violence if they did not move. By 2009 Shiites were a majority, with Sunnis reduced to about 10 percent to 15 percent of the population.
• Huriya was transformed in 2006 when the Mahdi Army pushed out hundreds of families in a brutal spasm of sectarian cleansing.
• More than 8,000 displaced families relocated to Amiriya, the neighborhood where the Sunni Awakening began in Baghdad.
• Adhamiya, a Sunni island in Shiite east Baghdad, was walled and restricted along with other neighborhoods in 2007 for security.
• Neighborhoods east of the Tigris River are generally more densely populated than areas to the west.
Source: Dr. M. Izady, Columbia University’s Gulf 2000 project
Smoke plume
at 10:30 a.m.
Wednesday.
ABOUT 115 MILES
TO BAGHDAD
Smoke plume
at 10:30 a.m.
Wednesday.
ABOUT 115 MILES
TO BAGHDAD
Source: Satellite image by NASA
Miles from
Central Baghdad
Several clashes occurred at the outskirts of Samarra, where Shiite militiamen have been sent to protect the Al-Askari Shrine.
The Iraqi army retook control of Ishaqi and Muqdadiya on June 14. In Muqdadiya, a Shiite militia assisted the government forces.
Militants took control of several neighborhoods in Baquba on June 16 but were repulsed by security officers after a three-hour gun battle. Later, 44 Sunni prisoners were killed in a government-controlled police station.
Falluja and many towns in the western province of Anbar have been under ISIS control for about six months.
At least five bomb attacks occurred in Baghdad, mainly in Shiite areas, in the week after the rebel group took Mosul. The bodies of four young men were found shot on June 17 in a neighborhood controlled by Shiite militiamen.
Miles from
Central Baghdad
Several clashes occurred at the outskirts of Samarra, where Shiite militiamen have been sent to protect the Al-Askari Shrine.
The Iraqi army retook control of Ishaqi and Muqdadiya on June 14. In Muqdadiya, a Shiite militia assisted the government forces.
Militants took control of several neighborhoods in Baquba on June 16 but were repulsed by security officers after a three-hour gun battle. Later, 44 Sunni prisoners were killed in a government-controlled police station.
At least five bomb attacks occurred in Baghdad, mainly in Shiite areas, in the week after the rebel group took Mosul. The bodies of four young men were found shot on June 17 in a neighborhood controlled by Shiite militiamen.
Falluja and many towns in the western province of Anbar have been under ISIS control for about six months.
Sources: Institute for the Study of War, Long War Journal
Attacks That Could Be Attributed to ISIS
Attacks That Could
Be Attributed to ISIS
2004-05 The group emerges as “Al Qaeda in Iraq” following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Its goal is to provoke a civil war.
2006-07 The group’s February 2006 bombing of one of Iraq's most revered Shiite shrines ignites sectarian violence across the country. After merging with several other Sunni insurgent groups, it changes its name to the Islamic State of Iraq.
2008-10 I.S.I. claims responsibility for more than 200 attacks, many in densely-populated areas around Baghdad.
2011-12 The group is relatively quiet for most of 2011, but re-emerges after American troops withdraw from Iraq.
2013 Seeing new opportunities for growth, I.S.I. enters Syria’s civil war and changes its name to reflect a new aim of establishing an Islamic religious state spanning Iraq and Syria. Its success in Syria bleeds over the border to Iraq.
2004-05 The group emerges as “Al Qaeda in Iraq” following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Its goal is to provoke a civil war.
2006-07 The group’s February 2006 bombing of one of Iraq's most revered Shiite shrines ignites sectarian violence across the country. After merging with several other Sunni insurgent groups, it changes its name to the Islamic State of Iraq.
2008-10 I.S.I. claims responsibility for more than 200 attacks, many in densely-populated areas around Baghdad.
2011-12 The group is relatively quiet for most of 2011, but re-emerges after American troops withdraw from Iraq.
2013 Seeing new opportunities for growth, I.S.I. enters Syria’s civil war and changes its name to reflect a new aim of establishing an Islamic religious state spanning Iraq and Syria. Its success in Syria bleeds over the border to Iraq.
2004-05 The group emerges as “Al Qaeda in Iraq” following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Its goal is to provoke a civil war.
2006-07 The group’s February 2006 bombing of one of Iraq's most revered Shiite shrines ignites sectarian violence across the country. After merging with several other Sunni insurgent groups, it changes its name to the Islamic State of Iraq.
2008-10 I.S.I. claims responsibility for more than 200 attacks, many in densely-populated areas around Baghdad.
2011-12 The group is relatively quiet for most of 2011, but re-emerges after American troops withdraw from Iraq.
2013 Seeing new opportunities for growth, I.S.I. enters Syria’s civil war and changes its name to reflect a new aim of establishing an Islamic religious state spanning Iraq and Syria. Its success in Syria bleeds over the border to Iraq.
2004-05 The group emerges as “Al Qaeda in Iraq” following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Its goal is to provoke a civil war. | 2006-07 The group’s February 2006 bombing of one of Iraq's most revered Shiite shrines ignites sectarian violence across the country. After merging with several other Sunni insurgent groups, it changes its name to the Islamic State of Iraq. | 2008-10 I.S.I. claims responsibility for more than 200 attacks, many in densely-populated areas around Baghdad. | 2011-12 The group is relatively quiet for most of 2011, but re-emerges after American troops withdraw from Iraq. | 2013 Seeing new opportunities for growth, I.S.I. enters Syria’s civil war and changes its name to reflect a new aim of establishing an Islamic religious state spanning Iraq and Syria. Its success in Syria bleeds over the border to Iraq. |
Note: Before 2011, less information was available on who was responsible for attacks, so the number of ISIS attacks from 2004 to 2010 may be undercounted.
Sources: Global Terrorism Database, National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism
June 12
Dhuluiya captured
Attacks in
the days after
Mosul captured
June 11
Parts of Baiji
captured
Ishaki Dujail
June 14
After capturing Mosul, Tikrit and parts of a refinery in Baiji, insurgents attacked Samarra, where Shiite militias helped pro-government forces. Then, they seized Jalawla and Sadiyah but were forced back by government troops backed by Kurdish forces. They continued their moves south by Ishaki and Dujail.
Attacks in
the days after
Mosul captured
June 11
Parts of Baiji
captured
June 11-12
Samarra attacked
June 12
Dhuluiya
captured
June 11-12
Samarra
attacked
June 12
Dhuluiya
captured
June 13
Jalawla and
Sadiyah
attacked
June 14
Ishaki and
Dujail
attacked
June 11
Parts of
Baiji captured
Attacks in
the days after
Mosul captured
After capturing Mosul, Tikrit and parts of a refinery in Baiji, insurgents attacked Samarra, where Shiite militias helped pro-government forces. Then, they seized Jalawla and Sadiyah but were forced back by government troops backed by Kurdish forces. They continued their moves south by Ishaki and Dujail.
Source: “The Islamic State in Iraq Returns to Diyala” by Jessica Lewis, Institute for the Study of War
Predominant group
Sunni Arab
Shiite Arab
Kurd
Source: Dr. M. Izady, Columbia University’s Gulf 2000 project
Then: American forces took control of Mosul in April 2003. What followed was a period of relative peace until mid-2004 when periodic insurgent attacks flared, resulting in a large-scale battle in November. The death toll reached dozens, including a number of Iraqi soldiers who were publicly beheaded.
Related Article »
Now: In perhaps the most stunning recent development, Sunni militants drove Iraqi military forces out of Mosul on June 10, forcing a half-million residents to flee the city. Iraqi soldiers reportedly dropped their weapons and donned civilian clothing to escape ISIS insurgents.
Then: Falluja played a pivotal role in the American invasion of Iraq. It was the site of a number of large-scale battles with insurgents. In April 2003, it became a hot bed for controversy when American soldiers opened fire on civilians after claiming they had been shot at. Incessant fighting left the city decimated, leveling a majority of its infrastructure and leaving about half its original population.
Related Article »
Now: Sunni militants seized Falluja’s primary municipal buildings on Jan. 3. The takeover came as an early and significant victory for the group, initiating a slew of attacks south of the city.
Then: The home of Saddam Hussein, Tikrit became the target of an early American military operation during the Iraq war. Securing it proved cumbersome, however, as insurgents mounted continued attacks on the city for years afterward. On Dec. 14, 2003, Hussein was found hiding in an eight-foot deep hole, just south of Tikrit.
Related Article »
Now: Tikrit fell to ISIS insurgents on June 11, clearing a path for them to march on to Baiji, home to one of Iraq’s foremost oil-refining operations. After taking the city in less than a day, militants continued the fight just south, in Samarra.
Then: Samarra is home to the Askariya shrine, which was bombed in 2006, prompting an extended period of sectarian violence across the country.
Related Article »
Now: After an initial attack on June 5, ISIS insurgents have now positioned themselves just miles away from Samarra. It is unclear whether they are capable of capturing the city in the coming days, but the Shiite shrine makes it a volatile target.
Safin Hamed/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
An Iraqi family, one of thousands who have fled Mosul for the autonomous Kurdish region, walks past tents at a temporary camp.
When a Twitter user called Islam4Libya on Tuesday posted this: “Video emerging of #Children being killed in #Syria BY #US airstrikes, as if #Assad wasn’t killing them fast enough,” the “Think Again” feed quickly replied: “@ISLAM4L LIES: They say in the video that these children were wounded in Assad airstrikes. Stop recycling footage as anti-U.S. propaganda.”
The “Think Again Turn Away” video mocks the Islamic State, which is also known as ISIS or ISIL, even briefly showing some of its beheaded victims. But some critics have questioned its deeply sarcastic tone: “You can learn useful new skills for the Ummah! Blowing up mosques. Crucifying and executing Muslims. Plundering public resources.” (Ummah is Arabic for the Muslim community.)
The communication center’s unofficial motto — “Contest the Space” — seemed to draw a high-level endorsement on Wednesday when Mr. Obama, in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, said that the fight against extremism meant “contesting the space that terrorists occupy — including the Internet and social media.”
With the State Department plunging deeper into the digital world, its Twitter accounts had nearly two million followers worldwide by last year, its Arab-language Twitter feed more than 200,000, and some ambassadors had Facebook followings in the tens of thousands.
Robert S. Ford, who recently retired as a diplomat from the State Department, said social media was indispensable to him when he was ambassador to Syria. Officials in Damascus “could shut my access off easily to Syrian media, but if I put something on Facebook it would be picked up by international Arab satellite media instantly, like al-Jazeera, and that was going into Syrian homes very readily,” he said.
Yet, the American digital effort led by the center has its limits. Of the more than 3,100 employees who answer to Mr. Stengel, only about 50 work for the counterterrorism communications center.
In contrast, Ms. Khatib said that an informant of hers in the ISIS hotbed of Raqqa, Syria — a city hard hit by the latest United States-led airstrikes — reported that Internet cafes there were “populated 24 hours a day” by many scores of young men “posting what the media department of the Islamic State wanted them to post.”
She added that “the capacity of these kinds of groups far exceeds the capacity of any government because these groups rely on thousands of members who are mobilized to engage in social media.”
Continue reading the main storyVideo
Stopping Homebound ISIS Fighters
A look at how governments around the world have been dealing with citizens turning jihadists.
Image CreditReuters
At one point recently, no Twitter posts had gone out from “Think Again Turn Away” for 19 hours, even as jihadis generated a constant flow.
William A. Rugh, a former United States ambassador to both Yemen and to the United Arab Emirates, recounts that one American ambassador in an Asian capital had a popular Twitter account but needed four people to help him: one to clear content (which means delays), two to prepare the English and local-language versions of Twitter posts, and another as webmaster.
“Social media is a blessing and a curse,” said Mr. Rugh, author of the recent book “Front Line Public Diplomacy.” “It’s changed the environment quite a bit, but it’s not a panacea.”
And Bruce Gregory, a former director of the Public Diplomacy Institute at George Washington University, said there were “huge questions about how diplomatic actors representing the public interest engage in social media platforms with people in civil society who don’t have those constraints.”
Still, some observers contend that American digital diplomacy is learning its lessons, and gaining adherents and momentum. “Digital is definitely seen as one of the real U.S. strengths” of recent years, said Jan Melissen of the Clingendael Institute in The Hague, who has written extensively on public diplomacy.
The impact of public diplomacy initiatives is nearly impossible to measure, specialists say. But one 2006 study of 394 students across the Middle East who listened to United States-sponsored Radio Sawa or watched al-Hurrah television found that their views of American policy actually worsened slightly the longer they listened.
“If you try to manipulate people’s perceptions, it can be counterproductive,” said the study’s author, Mohammed el-Nawawy of Queens University in Charlotte, N.C. “The very knowledge of being manipulated, of knowing you are being manipulated, can really backfire.”
Mr. Stengel conceded that his department’s programs were “not without risk.” The center, he said, has no choice but to operate in “a difficult, alarming, disturbing space.”
As to how to gauge success, Mr. Stengel said: “One thing you can’t measure is, if you do prevent one young man from joining ISIL who would’ve otherwise massacred a thousand people, what is the value of that? You can’t calculate that. You can’t overestimate it.”
Correction: September 27, 2014
An earlier version of this article misstated the university that is home to the Public Diplomacy Institute, where Bruce Gregory was a former director. It is George Washington University, not Georgetown University. Mr. Gregory teaches at both institutions.
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