The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the world’s largest coalition of bloodthirsty psychopaths, is really successful. They are so successful at what they do that they now control an area larger than the United Kingdom. Even al Qaeda got tired with their extremism. For the record, this is like the Kardashians getting tired of selfies. It’s almost not possible.
The fundamental problem with ISIS is that they hate everyone: Christians, the West, Jews, Hindus, other Muslims, and even al Qaeda. They are greedy, incapable of what we view as rational thinking, incapable of being satisfied, and extremely selfish. They use negative media as a way of spreading their image. To be honest, this is also the problem with the Kardashians.
On the topic of pop culture, though, do you know who else is super successful lately? Teen pop singers, like One Direction (1D) and Taylor Swift. There are hundreds of articles on their successful branding and marketing strategies, and I’ve read more of them than I’ve spent time listening to their music. I’ve begun to realize that ISIS uses a lot of the same tactics.
Here are five things that ISIS and One Direction have in common for example:
1) They are both social media superpowers. ISIS uses YouTube and Twitter in very efficient ways, uploading HD videos, sound-bite filled speeches and propaganda. 1D, well, basically runs Twitter.
2) They target only specific audiences. Articles on 1D often point out that they’re not trying to expand into an adult Wall-Street male audience; they’re happy with mostly female teenagers. Similarly, ISIS knows who they can brainwash – other Muslims who are minorities in Western countries – and they use tactics to recruit them specifically. They have split the world into “ISIS” and “Apostates,” and they know who goes where.
3) They’re great at recruiting new members. Being nice to fans is a very good thing. From 1D’s endless YouTube videos to ISIS using romance and individual promises to lure recruits, both groups spend a lot of time focusing on advertising and welcoming.
4) They have a very loyal fan club, who will see no wrong with the group. Just try telling ISIS they’re un-Islamic. It’s worse than telling a Directioner that 1D is not the greatest band in human history (which, in case you haven’t tried it, is bad enough). Analysts like Graeme Wood have repeatedly reported that radical Islamists appear quite rational when discussing their faith.
5) They do not have a single leader. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is the Simon Cowell of ISIS. Congratulations to the one other person on Earth who got that reference, but basically killing al-Baghdadi is not going to defeat the terrorist group, which can survive longer than the man who started the caliphate. (Mr. Cowell made 1D a band, and though his support was integral in the beginning, they’d still be famous without him today.)
So what? Well, understanding that ISIS spreads like pop music also helps us understand how to stop it.
First, killing ISIS’s top leadership is not going to be enough. ISIS can survive solely on faith, as long as it has control of land. ISIS’s members are pretty clear about what they have to do and how to do it.
Second, you cannot beat ISIS – or One Direction – on social media. Just don’t try it. As in, Dear State Department, please stop your “anti-propaganda” videos and Think Again Turn Away tweets. It’s only helping the enemy. It legitimizes them when you tweet to them and they are using tweeting back to you as a (pretty neat) way of increasing their fame. Also, sometimes you just don’t know what you’re doing, like when you tweet negative things about ISIS to al Qaeda/ al Nusra Front. Here’s a hint: It’s like Taylor Swift and Harry Styles. They already hate each other.
Third, congratulations to Iraq for making headway at beating ISIS and congratulations to the West for doing a little something about something. When Iraq says coalition raids are needed – as in Tikrit – we should help. ISIS is a caliphate and, by definition, needs territory to survive. Destroy their territory and you destroy ISIS.
Fourth, plans to defeat ISIS should involve trying to increase infighting, not attacking from the outside alone. Think about how bands break up. The Beatles had Yoko Ono, egos and a host of other issues. The members started not being able to tolerate each other. Similarly, some of our strongest weapons against ISIS are other power-hungry people, like Bashar al-Assad or al Qaeda. As long as they keep fighting ISIS and offering alternatives for Muslim society, ISIS’s problems will continue to grow. As it is, many people are defecting from ISIS. Sowing more discord within the ISIS ranks should be an important objective.
Fifth, if we wanted to, how might we destroy 1D?
Answer: We’d have to make sure Directioners couldn’t sell fan stuff online. We’d have to prevent them from communicating to one another, building clubs, and selling related products.
So why not do that to ISIS? Forcing Twitter to close down ISIS-related accounts (and keep closing them when they pop up), preventing people from preaching radical Islamist ideas on YouTube, and doing our best to prevent online recruiting in Western countries would be a strong start.
Lastly, saying that ISIS terrorists are not Muslim or are “un-Islamic” is like saying that Directioners are not real One Direction fans. It’s simply not true. I understand that President Obama was trying to protect innocent, normal Muslims by his statement – and that’s commendable – but his comment that ISIS is “un-Islamic” shows America’s lack of understanding when it comes to the real issues.
Of course, not all Muslims are the problem. But some Muslims are the problem.
We want to view ISIS as a new version of al Qaeda, but it’s not. Al Qaeda is a political movement, in many ways, and their goals are often political. ISIS is purely theological. To ISIS, the Taliban, the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas are all apostates, since they’ve recognized the existence of borders, ambassadors and international law at some point in time (i.e., if you’re even a little sane, you’re an apostate).
Following the Koran, ISIS believes that “Rome” will fight them and lose in an apocalyptic battle. The fact that Rome is now a casual city of outdoor cafes and tourists has not bothered them, because they assume America and an EU coalition will do nicely.
So ISIS is Islamic. In fact, that is all they are. They believe God will save them and we can’t rationalize with people who believe God is on their side.
And thus, we have to stop trying to rationalize it. To not admit that ISIS is Islamic is to value political correctness over foresight. It is fighting on their turf: how to define Islam. Obama cannot claim the Islamic state is not Islamic for the simple reason that he is … er … not a Muslim. He has no right to say they are apostates; other Muslims need to – and should – do that. An important tactic is to show would-be ISIS members that a) a caliphate is not the only correct form of Islam and b) even if it were, this isn’t the right caliphate.
Show teenage girls new music. Sometimes it works. But other teens need to show it to them.
Of course, at the end of all this, you probably realize that destroying ISIS is akin to preventing 1D from performing. It takes away their current status as a band, but it doesn’t prevent people from listening to their old music, missing them and, most problematically, still being fans. ISIS can be destroyed. Radical Islam cannot.
There will always be completely insane people who think killing everyone else is a good idea. All we can do – and should do – is limit the harm as fast as we can.
Isvari Mohan is a singer, the author of the war drama “The Eyes of Mikra” and a Global Law Scholar at Georgetown Law.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.