The Road to Media Jihad: The Propaganda Actions of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb

Abstract

This article offers a descriptive analysis of the evolution of the propaganda actions of the Algerian Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), later known as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). An examination of the content of the propaganda released by the terrorist group between 1998 and 2009 allows us to identify the different stages and factors accounting for the role played by communications in the strategy of the organisation. The article argues that the AQIM has gradually become an organisation centred on the “media Jihad.”