Londonstani reports collection

[davidbfpo]

A short eleven page USIP paper on strategic communications by Amil Khan, aka 'Londonistani', which examines the messaging used by extremists and their opponents:http://www.usip.org/publications/pak...ives-extremism

From the summary:

extremist strategic communications efforts build on Pakistan’s existing narratives to portray events related to Pakistan as proof that there is an ongoing war against Islam....Unlike extremist communications efforts, strategic communications efforts to counter extremism in Pakistan typically do not deploy messages built on Pakistan’s narratives.

Ouch. Now for the future:

Any strategy toward counterextremism communications in Pakistan should draw on Pakistan’s existing narratives and its sense of itself. Indeed, these narratives provide significant opportunities for counterextremists to attack the vision and worldview of groups like al- Qaeda. Strategic communications efforts against extremism need to move away from crafting the “right” message from the practitioners’ point of view and move toward focusing on emotionally engaging the audience.

The author's bio:

Amil Khan is a director of Breakthrough Communications Ltd. Before working in strategic communications, he was a foreign correspondent for Reuters and later worked for the BBC. He speaks fluent Arabic and Urdu and has lived and worked in the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. From 2009 to 2012, Khan was based in Pakistan consulting on strategic communication projects for nongovernmental organizations, governments, and private organizations.

Link to Londonistani thread:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ead.php?t=8870

[omarali50]

The weak strategic narrative is a feature, not a bug.
Paknationalists do not wish to give up Paknationalism. That nationalism becomes more dangerous if it succeeds. As long as that is not (quietly, even surreptitiously) given up, the rest is details. ...
http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksd...omar-ali-.html