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"Public communication campaigns are found everywhere and it is nearly impossible to elude them in our modern-day environment of traditional communication and social media. By and large, a campaign is a comprehensive and organized attempt at shaping the behavior, attitude, or decision-making status within a community of people. It is a strategic course of action carried out during a specific time limit and for a precise outcome. A public communication campaign consists of a set of coordinated messages or other communicative efforts aimed at accomplishing predetermined goals and objectives: to sway a high number of people's beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Atkin (1981) defines "public communication campaign" as a method that uses "promotional messages in the public interest disseminated through mass media channels to target audiences." Public communication campaigns tend to be waged by state or non-state actors who seek to inform or affect behaviors in large audiences through an organized set of communication processes. They are designed with two phases in mind. The first phase generates awareness about a certain topic. Thus, a campaign has a purpose; the desired outcomes can be diverse ranging from individual level cognitive impacts to social or systemic change. The second phase uses that awareness to instill behavior change and shape the thoughts or actions of the audience; it is typically aimed at a large audience. "Large" is an important concept here because it helps differentiate campaigns from interpersonal persuasive endeavors by one or a few person that seek to influence a handful of others"--

This book conceptually examines the role of communication in global jihad from multiple perspectives. The main premise is that communication is so vital to the global jihadist movement today that jihadists will use any communicative tool, tactic, or approach to impact or transform people and the public at large. The author explores how and why the benefits of communication are a huge boon to jihadist operations, with jihadists communicating their ideological programs to develop a strong base for undertaking terrorist violence. The use of various information and communication systems and platforms by jihadists exemplifies the most recent progress in the relationship between terrorism, media, and the new information environment. For jihadist organizations like ISIS and Al-Qaeda, recruiting new volunteers for the Caliphate who are willing to sacrifice their lives for the cause is a top priority. Based on various conceptual analyses, case studies, and theoretical applications, this book explores the communicative tools, tactics, and approaches used for this recruitment, including narratives, propaganda, mainstream media, social media, new information and communication technologies, the jihadisphere, visual imagery, media framing, globalization, financing networks, crime - jihad nexuses, group communication, radicalization, social movements, fatwas, martyrdom videos, pop-jihad, and jihadist nasheeds.

This book examines how jihadist groups in sub-Saharan Africa have managed to advance their extremist agenda and recruit new followers thanks to digital media fueled by the information revolution since the dawn of the 21st century. This examination is based on a mixture of historical accounts, contemporary descriptions, case studies, theoretical applications, and an in-depth applied study (in the late chapters of the manuscript). An important conclusion is that the progress of jihadism in sub-Saharan Africa has been commensurate with the development and availability of digital media. This book breaks new ground in three ways. It is the first major academic work to devote most of its content exclusively to the use of digital media by jihadist groups in that region. Examples of jihadist digital media include social networking sites, online instructional videos, propaganda videos, and online jihadist magazines among others. Secondly, it provides detailed case studies of both well-knownAfrican groups (e.g., Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram) and lesser-known ones e.g., the Allied Democratic Forces in the Congo (which have, nevertheless, wreaked so much damage). Lastly, it is the first book to include an in-depth thematic analysis of online jihadist magazines Inspire, Dabiq, Rumiyah, and Gaidi Mtaani on their content dedicated to sub-Saharan Africa