Terrorism organizations have different motives that they ought to achieve through violent actions. The reasons behind membership in particular terrorist groups go beyond the psychological needs to the influence on the environment in which they live. Membership in the Islamic State terrorist organization is an example of a terrorist organization where the strategic approach has become an essential tool for recruiting individuals into the group. The recruiting process is facilitated by the implementation of technology capable of easing the communication process, thus organizing terror attacks and spreading a message to the group members. The objective for the Islamic State group operating in Iraq is the creation of a worldwide caliphate embracing and governed by Islamic law. In an attempt of achieving the set objective, the terrorist group has been in a position to cause several deaths, thus marking some level of achievement of the terrorist group. Islamic terrorist group applies strategic training method influenced by technology as the approach for recruiting individuals into the organization.
Islamic State terrorist group applies different recruiting methods in an attempt of attracting individuals to the group. The first training approach is the strategic training that focuses on addressing the vulnerability needs of people in society. Though Psychological traits contribute to the decision by an individual to join a particular terrorist group, most of the people decide to join a terrorist organization because of the influence on the environment in which such people live. Environmental factors include aspects such as economic challenges, social isolation, and an inability for people to acquire basic needs (Roshandel & Lean, 2013). As a result, the Islamic State Group focuses on evaluating the vulnerability of people with such problems, thus providing an opportunity for serving the interests of such people. The strategic targeting approach shows that the Islamic State recruiting process targets the youths busy looking for a purpose in life. People in such categories attach their problems and suffering to the people of the West, thus making it easy for the youths to contact terror attacks in the West as a way of revenge.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The recruiting process follows appropriate steps needed in examining selecting the qualified candidates for joining the group. For instance, the first step includes an examination of the ability of people in the age of 25 years and below (Turner, 2018). Youths in this age become easily swayed through messages that members of the group send to such individuals, thus making them attractive to the people. Teenagers are believed to have a mind that is underdeveloped, and the decisions they make at this age tend to have a long term effect in their life. Qualified candidates are then examined for their ability to use technology and social media platforms that are commonly used by people in the Islamic State group to share messages and communicate the plans they ought to achieve by acting violently. Since people in this category have a significant desire for living a successful life, they end up falling into the needs of recruiters in the organization.
People in the ISIS use messages capable of manipulating youths to join the organization. For instance, they portray the Islamic State organization as a place of comfort and capable of addressing the challenges that the majority of the youths face in Syria and Iraq. Economic vulnerability is one of the motve as to why people choose to join terrorist organization (Roshandel & Lean, 2013). For example, most of the teenagers have desires in securing job opportunities and living a comfortable life. For the people to develop adverse effects associated with people of the West, they are recruited to social inequality and problems experienced in the region to have originated from the West. As a result, they become committed to revenge and retaliation as the only way to develop a happy, comfortable life in Syria. People believe that social inequality remains the reason behind the increased rate of problems experienced in Iraq and Syria. Since the Islamic State terrorist organization promises to address these challenges, many people become interested in receiving training and serving the interests of the leaders of the organization. Finally, the practice is offered by selected individuals believed to be reliable and committed in the Islamic religion.
Sustainability is an essential aspect for measuring the ability of an individual to become a successful member of the Islamic State. The tests and knowledge measure the strength of the person to qualify as a technological expert and the level of problems that the organization believes they can solve (Roshandel & Lean, 2013). This information indicates that the selection process is divided into strategic targeting experience, technology, and experience and kinship selection approach. In addition to the selection of age, the selected individual should have a descent in the Middle East where people are believed to have experienced challenges and discrimination from people of the West. People living and bounded by the laws of the community are likely to get committed in the training process and remain loyal to the organization. People selected should be victims of circumstances such as experiencing isolation in schools and poverty that would drive the individual to capitalization motive. The training process focuses on selecting individuals committed to religion. In this case, leaders of the Islamic State organization focus on examining frequency which the candidate has been attending a mosque.
The selection process involves testing of knowledge and ability to use social platforms. Training and recruitment process in the organization takes place through online approaches. In effect, completing the selection process examines the strength of the individual to have access to the online training process and remain in contact with the group. Knowledge and ability focus on the frequency and rate at which the candidate remains active in the social media platforms used by members of the organization. The selected candidate should have used the social media platforms of the Islamic State terrorist group for at least one week. This period remains adequate for accessing the ability of the individual to use the language and communication strategies applied by ISIS in meeting its set missions (Turner, 2018). The candidate should have come across propaganda of the organization online or put into connection with the ISIS by a recognizable group of the organization in the organization. This approach is applied to accessing the trustworthy and loyalty that the individual is likely to show to the organization.
The closing of the selection process also leads to the use of kinship accessing strategy. The person claiming to be included in the training process should also have shown the ability of the individual to attach their origin to a close family member who has been a member of the Islamic State Organization (Turner, 2018). This information indicates that the selected individuals should have been recommended to the group by a friend or a family member who underwent the training process in the group. This strategy is applied in an attempt of gaining trust issues over the selected person. If an individual cannot attach his kinship with one member of the Islamic State member, they stand a low chance of becoming a member of the organization.
Modern technology has played an essential role in facilitating the work of terrorists in society. In the contemporary world, communities face threats and attacks from terror attacks because technology has increased the ability of terrorist organizations to plan attacks and hide such information from security groups across the globe (Paganini, 2016). For instance, the Islamic State terrorist organization has been in a position to launch various attacks that could not be traced by the security agencies in the United States. Though technologies advances foment increase the skills and strategies applied by security agencies, it appears to be beneficial to the terrorists because they create an opportunity for planning attacks through online platforms. For example, cyberspace has no boundaries, and it creates an opportunity for terrorist groups to attract people and resources from different regions pursuing similar goals.
Islamic state Terrorism group applies technological advancements such as social media platforms to plan and spread propaganda regarding the group. For instance, a majority of people who have joined this terrorist organization have financial challenges and join ISIS as the only place they can get comfort. The selection of the people qualified to work with the ISIS is also conducted online through platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (Turner, 2018). This information indicates that modern technology has created an avenue through which terror groups spread propaganda and win loyalty for the majority of the people seen as sympathizers of the organization. Technology has also changed how terrorists conduct the attacks. For instance, terrorists are now in a position to make fire harms and weapon such as nuclear bombs. As a result, social media become the most distinguishing feature between modern and traditional terror groups experienced across the world.
Recruiting process applied by the Islamic State terrorist group reveals that there is a difference between recruitment processes used in traditional and modern terror organizations. The difference is attributable to the technological improvements witnessed in the systems applied in the training process thus increasing access to sympathizers in support of the group rather than relying on people from different regions for the training process (Männik, 2009). Though there is similarity in the motives for both traditional and modern terrorist groups, differences occur in the organizational structure for both groups. Traditional terror groups relied on loose networks and comprised of individuals from a local region because sharing of information remained a challenge to such groups. However, modern technology has been applied to expanding the boundaries of terror groups as they recruit individuals from different regions across the globe.
References
Männik, E. (2009). Terrorism: Its past, present and future prospects. KVÜÕA toimetised, (12), 151-171.
Paganini, P. (2016). The role of technology in modern terrorism. Infosec Institute.
Roshandel, J., & Lean, N. (Eds.). (2013). The Moral Psychology of Terrorism: Implications for Security. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Turner, L. (2018). The Path to Terrorism: The Islamic State and Its Recruitment Strategies.
