WASHINGTON – The West is suffering from what one leading strategist calls an “autoimmune disease” in trying to fight the Islamic State. The self-defense mechanisms championed by Donald Trump and his European neo-populist counterparts have gone into toxic overdrive – weakening the West’s body politic and making the jihadist fever far worse.
David Kenning, a British counter-radicalization expert, made this provocative argument in a telephone interview last week, and in recent research for various Western governments. His comments are part of a new wave of analysis that views the Islamic State more as an adolescent youth gang, driven by the identity politics of victimization than as a religious or ideological movement.
These skeptical analysts argue that many current messaging strategies against the Islamic State are backfiring – and that polarizing politicians such as Trump have amplified the jihadists’ impact and been their best recruiting tool. Islamophobia helps the jihadists by fueling their narrative about embattled Muslims, Kenning argues. It creates a sense of wounded community – a shared identity of having been wronged, which prompts violent revenge.
Kenning explains why the self-styled caliphate’s appeal is so powerful with alienated, adolescent recruits:
“The Islamic State brand is empowering. It tells you you’re a victim, and offers a license for revenge. And, through social media, it offers you celebrity, a chance to be somebody rather than nobody. Anyone who thinks a theological argument could counter this is simply naive.”