White Paper on Social and Cognitive Neuroscience Underpinnings of ISIL / ISIS Behavior and Implications for Strategic Communication, Messaging, and Influence
Book Details
Author(s)U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff
PublisherU.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff
ISBN / ASINB01BE5IC2C
ISBN-13978B01BE5IC28
Sales Rank1,838,310
MarketplaceUnited States 🇺🇸
Description
This White Paper makes a significant contribution to the study of terrorist behavior in general and ISIL behavior in particular. Unique in this work is the melding of neuroscientific considerations about the basic structures and functions of the brain with social and cultural influences in order to provide a holistic insight into the motivations for terrorist behaviors. Importantly, this paper also explores the relationship between the narratives that support terrorist behavior and the neuro-cognitive processes that contribute to those behaviors. That relationship is accurately portrayed as symbiotic in the sense that one can only truly understand seemingly aberrant behavior if one understands the continuous ebb and flow of chemical and cultural influences that are manifested in an individual’s actions.
Important in framing the discussion of terrorist behavior is the presentation of two foundational constructs; the postulation about the normality of aggression and the admonition against the use of terms such as deranged, psychotic, and evil in describing ISIL behaviors. When thinking about the normality of aggression one wonders if Hannah Arendt’s observation about the banality of evil, alternately interpreted as describing the many dull organizational tasks that need to done by ordinary people in order to perpetuate genocide, has relevance to this discussion about ISIL.
What we classify as evil is influenced by the local moral order or culture in which we live. It has been said before and remains historically valid that what one culture calls a terrorist another culture calls a freedom fighter. As morally disturbing as the ISIL beheading videos are, they are informed by a certain rationality that is shared by those who belong to or want to be accepted by ISIL. Trying to understand this rationality is made more difficult when terms such as deranged and psychotic are applied to members of ISIL, since they are actually behaving in accordance with the norms of rationality within their own organization. People seek to join ISIL and aspire to be accepted by that organization in the same way that they join any other self-described elitist organization.
The terrorist narratives that support and justify their behavior are linguistic manifestations of non-epistemic beliefs and are critical to supporting terrorist agendas and rationalizing the outcomes of actions inspired by those agendas. Those narratives are defined by language and were appropriately characterized by Ludwig Wittgenstein when he said: “the limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” The micro-world of ISIL is defined by the language and the narratives they use in identifying themselves. However, there are also influences on the individuals in ISIL that shape and sustain those narratives, which can be empirically assessed and perhaps influenced, in part by using the scientific approaches articulated in this report. Presenting the totality of context, which should inform any discussion of ISIL behavior, is the great strength of this paper and is the reason for the unique contribution it makes to the contemporary literature about ISIL. The wide diversity of expertise and experience of the authors combine to produce exclusive insights into the origins of terrorist narratives and the manifestations of those narratives in intentional acts.
Important in framing the discussion of terrorist behavior is the presentation of two foundational constructs; the postulation about the normality of aggression and the admonition against the use of terms such as deranged, psychotic, and evil in describing ISIL behaviors. When thinking about the normality of aggression one wonders if Hannah Arendt’s observation about the banality of evil, alternately interpreted as describing the many dull organizational tasks that need to done by ordinary people in order to perpetuate genocide, has relevance to this discussion about ISIL.
What we classify as evil is influenced by the local moral order or culture in which we live. It has been said before and remains historically valid that what one culture calls a terrorist another culture calls a freedom fighter. As morally disturbing as the ISIL beheading videos are, they are informed by a certain rationality that is shared by those who belong to or want to be accepted by ISIL. Trying to understand this rationality is made more difficult when terms such as deranged and psychotic are applied to members of ISIL, since they are actually behaving in accordance with the norms of rationality within their own organization. People seek to join ISIL and aspire to be accepted by that organization in the same way that they join any other self-described elitist organization.
The terrorist narratives that support and justify their behavior are linguistic manifestations of non-epistemic beliefs and are critical to supporting terrorist agendas and rationalizing the outcomes of actions inspired by those agendas. Those narratives are defined by language and were appropriately characterized by Ludwig Wittgenstein when he said: “the limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” The micro-world of ISIL is defined by the language and the narratives they use in identifying themselves. However, there are also influences on the individuals in ISIL that shape and sustain those narratives, which can be empirically assessed and perhaps influenced, in part by using the scientific approaches articulated in this report. Presenting the totality of context, which should inform any discussion of ISIL behavior, is the great strength of this paper and is the reason for the unique contribution it makes to the contemporary literature about ISIL. The wide diversity of expertise and experience of the authors combine to produce exclusive insights into the origins of terrorist narratives and the manifestations of those narratives in intentional acts.
