War of the propaganda machines : vying for "victory" in the narrative battle of Mosul

• Main Author: Lee, Tracy Marie Shiyin
• Other Authors: Alan Chong
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Political science
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/73300
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

As Mosul has been shrouded in a detached and incorporeal narrative battle , the notion of "victory" has also come to surpass the physical dimension of meaning. The city embodies in coalition and the Islamic State' s narratives much more than ground to be gained, and have come to possess substantial symbolic meaning as well. Dislodging the Islamic State from the city would be an emblem of "victory" for the U.S. led coalition in a long drawn out fight with the most challenging Islamic insurgency or "proto-state" the world has encountered. For the Islamic State, winning will represent a triumphant show of the Islamic State' s power and ideological reinforcement in the form of a victory over a more powerful adversary bent on annihilating one of the "bases of Islam and one of its minarets under the Caliphate" . Thus, the American led anti-Islamic State coalition and the Islamic State vie for "victory" in a 'decisive battle' that rages on beyond the physical warrens of the urban territory, and into the global information battle space. The meaning of "victory" then takes on multidimensional characteristics in the narrative realm. As such, information operations that shape the opinions of important audiences are crucial, and arguably, the ultimate strategic parameter for the coalition's victory over the Islamic State in Mosul and beyond. Hence, the prominence of information operations must be elevated for a true victory in battles against 21st Century Millenarian global insurgencies; that are more than the physical combat on the ground and must be portrayed as a victory if it is to be truly so. This is especially true since experts speak of the sophistication of the Islamic State's Information Operation's campaign, while positing that the current coalition's campaigns are lacking.