Hybrid threats combine multidimensional attacks, both coercive and subversive. The aim is not only kinetic, but also to influence different forms of decision making. It can range from cyberattacks on critical information systems, to the narrative led operations, particularly through social media. Both states and non-state actors use hybrid approaches to pursue their political and military aims. However, social media seemed to have become the weapon of choice for a non-state actor. It is an asymmetrical offensive capability. DAESH is not the first in use social media for information activities and gaining support, but they do it more effectively than their counterparts – with a strong communication strategy. This presentation analyses the Portuguese references in jihadi videos content. Through semiotic analysis, with both qualitative and interpretative content analysis, we will figure if there is a rhetorical/communication strategy specifically aimed at Portuguese speakers, and how it is conveyed, analyzing language, gestures and other non-verbal codes.
Keywords: Hybrid threats, Strategic communication, Audiovisual content, Terrorism, Jihadism
Felipe Pathé Duarte | OBSERVARE-UAL & ISCPSI
Felipe Pathé Duarte (1980), PhD, is assistant professor at the Higher Institute of Police Sciences, and consultant at VisionWare (for geopolitical analysis and political risk consultant). He was assistant professor and post-doc researcher at the Autonomous University of Lisbon – with a project on euro-Mediterranean security. Felipe is also an analyst for international security at RTP, the public service broadcasting. He was a visiting fellow at the Oxford University (St. Antony’s College) and at the Counterterrorism and Homeland Security Program of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in Washington DC. Felipe was a Fulbright fellow at the US National Security Policymaking Program, of the US State Department. Felipe is an invited lecturer at the Portuguese Institute of National Defense and at various training courses of the Armed Forces and the Security Services. He is also a visiting professor at the General Staff Course and at the Joint Promotion Course General Officer at the Portuguese Institute of Higher Military Studies. In 2007 he published his first book, on post-Cold War Terrorism (“No Crepúculo da Razão – Considerações Sobre o Terrorismo Pós-Guerra Fria”; Ed. Prefácio, 223p.). In September 2015 he published the second, “Global Jihadism: from Words to Deeds” (Ed. Marcador: 311p.), on jihadi strategic thinking. And he is writing another on political violence, insurgency and terrorism.