The study by the Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI), titled "The Digital Caliphate," found that Daesh (ISIS/ISIL) heavily leans on the subculture known as 'Jihadi Cool' for its brainwashing activities. In turn, 'Jihadi Cool' is an eclectic subculture trying to re-brand militant Islamism in a hipper package with its own music, fashion and expression, the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter reported.
A particularly striking feature of the 'Jihadi Cool' is that its generic web proponent looks almost indistinguishable from your ordinary social media account, rife with pink-hued images, cute pics of kittens and horses, as well as snapshots of glitterati and comic characters, if it weren't for an odd intrusion of knives, blood and Jihadi slogans.
For an extremist movement that advocates the destruction of the West, it might seem a bit inconsistent to rely on Western references to such a high degree. Nevertheless, Daesh would have been much less successful in its perennial recruitment campaigns, FOI researcher Liisa Kaati told the Swedish news outlet The Local. Second-generation immigrants, who have grown up in Western countries, have been an almost inexhaustible source of reinforcements. For them, ideology is secondary to lifestyle, hence the message. By contrast, the propaganda spread across the Arab world is much more warlike and violent.
The FOI was assigned the task of carrying out this study by the Swedish government in its quest to raise awareness and counter the rise of violent extremism in the Nordic country.
According to previous estimations by Sweden's Security Police, SÄPO, at least 300 people have traveled to the Middle East since 2012 to join various Islamist sects. Of these, around 130 have returned to Sweden and this group is ranked as the most serious threat to Sweden's security.
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