Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Law and Political Science Faculty of Allameh Tabatabai University

2 International relation, Law and Political science. Allameh tabatabai university . tehran. iran

Abstract

In this day and age the media have provided positive means for developing human values and promoting peace throughout the international society. The other side of the story is, however, not very positive as due to limited control over the media and its unfettered reach radical jihadi groups have turned it into a propaganda machine for the spread of their inhuman values and measures which are clear violations of human rights. The Middle East has been the main target of these groups whose negative campaigns and activities have turned the region into the eye of the storm in a global crisis. Thus, in order to study the issue the current article’s main question is to find answer to ‘What role do the media play in strategies employed by salafi groups, especially, Al-Qaeda and ISIS, and what impact did these activities bear upon the social lives of the Middle Easterners?’. As a matter fact, jihadi groups, namely the two terrorist groups of Al-Qaeda and ISIS, have pursued a distinct and peculiar media strategy mainly based upon attempts at recruitment, spread of violence, legitimization and disseminating their messages to friends and foes. Furthermore, these groups have turned the Middle East into the main scene on which their destructive acts of violence are staged to the extent that nowadays the menacing shadow of terrorism and jihadi ideology is putatively engulfing the entire region.

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