What role does social media play in radicalising young people? (Chris Ratcliffe / Bloomberg)
What role does social media play in radicalising young people? (Chris Ratcliffe / Bloomberg)

The digital theatre of war requires better munitions



Bravery in war is said to be a necessary rampart of defence but not when it is all farce and feint. These were not the words they used to describe America’s online battle with ISIL, but the Silicon Valley branding experts who recently conducted a review of US virtual engagement may well have thought them.

The reviewing group, which included veterans of Google, Twitter and other technology companies, questioned the US government’s ability to serve as a credible voice against the extremist group’s propaganda. No one, they suggested, especially overseas Muslim audiences, would readily believe American government-branded tweets, Facebook posts and YouTube videos, so it was best for the US to keep its powder dry on the digital battlefield.

The review prompted a relatively speedy rethink and a new strategy, which will rebalance American efforts and resources among third parties along the lines of the Sawab Centre in the UAE. Similar counter-messaging centres may soon come up in Malaysia and Nigeria.

Richard Stengel, the former managing editor of Time magazine who now oversees the State Department’s Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications (CSCC), has admitted that the new model will involve “more partnership with credible voices, with other governments and third parties”.

This is all to the good and the only surprise is that the US has taken so long to realise it can’t accomplish much by the so-called strategy of “tweeting to terrorists”.

But the ineffectuality of the CSCC, which was set up two years ago as an information war room against terrorist networks, is underlined at a particularly poignant moment for America.

In the aftermath of the latest mass shooting in the US, there is some suspicion that one of the murderers, US-born-and-bred Syed Rizwan Farook, may have been self-radicalised or turned by his ISIL-supporting Pakistani wife. She is said to have had a major part in the massacre in southern California. There is little information so far about what role, if any, social media played in Farook’s alleged radicalisation. However, it’s worth questioning the value of the CSCC’s work if its online interventions could not reach even a college-educated man with a well-paid job who was raised in America for all of his 28 years.

The tortuous sequence of America’s attempts to fight ISIL’s propaganda war has included stomach-churningly violent films, such as Welcome to ISIS Land, which were made by the State Department in an effort to show up ISIL.

That film never did have the intended effect and it underlines the real problem in dissipating the extremists’ online allure. The message can only ever be as good as the reality. And the reality is more complex than anything that can be countered by short, sharp videos and Twitter messages aimed at everyone around the world who might conceivably be radicalised.

In this context, it may be relevant to quote Olivier Roy, the French professor who is considered an expert on political Islam. He has said that the phenomenon of young men in their 20s and 30s committing mass murder and suicide in the name of God is an extreme manifestation of a “generational nihilistic radicalised youth revolt”.

It is, he has said, “more about the Islamisation of radicalism than the radicalisation of Islam”. The professor attributes this mainly to a big generational gap, which he says is being felt more strongly in Muslim societies because these communities are experiencing sudden cultural, sociological and political change.

For second-generation migrants in Europe, says Mr Roy, it is about the loss of status (and loss of face) that their parents suffered because they moved.

The young are angry about everything their parents represent. Their anger is akin, he suggests, to the Baader Meinhof revolutionaries who wanted to take revenge on their parents’ generation of Nazi collaborators. According to him, “the young jihadists say ‘we are better than you.’ This is always what a youth movement says.”

He’s got a point. But this reasoning applies mainly to European Muslims, now massed into second and third generations of immigrants, and who are achingly conscious of the divide between official egalitarianism and subtle exclusion in their countries.

What of other parts of the world? Why, say, would one of the California shooters, Tashfeen Malik, who had a college degree and belonged to a Pakistani family of means, choose death (for herself and 14 other innocent people) over life with her husband and a young daughter? Why would she swear allegiance on Facebook to Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, leader of ISIL, a brutal group that has often been described as a death cult?

Perhaps the answer is that there is no one answer. In some parts of the developing world, the trigger for Mr Roy’s “generational nihilistic” violence may simply be a recoiling against globalisation, which is seen as synonymous with westernisation. That said, Muslims everywhere – from Algeria to Pakistan – continue to feel the injustice and the consequence of western hypocrisy over the occupation of Palestine.

Western double standards remain a common theme for young people (Muslim or not) in the developing world. And for young Muslims born and bred in the West, this opinion fuses with the organic reality of the double standards they face in their lives.

There is much to commend in Mr Roy’s theory that the world is faced with a youth radicalisation movement that has simply fastened on Islam. But the fightback must be recalibrated to challenge that cunning narrative.

This is not so much a global battle against anything so much as a local, sometimes even acutely individual, grievance that latches on to ISIL-like groups to magnify its significance.

Rashmee Roshan Lall is a writer on world affairs

On Twitter: @rashmeerl

Paatal Lok season two

Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy 

Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong

Rating: 4.5/5

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

How Beautiful this world is!
German intelligence warnings
  • 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten

Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a  month before Reaching the Last Mile.

Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

 

Vidaamuyarchi

Director: Magizh Thirumeni

Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra

Rating: 4/5

 

At Eternity’s Gate

Director: Julian Schnabel

Starring: Willem Dafoe, Oscar Isaacs, Mads Mikkelsen

Three stars

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Scores

Rajasthan Royals 160-8 (20 ov)

Kolkata Knight Riders 163-3 (18.5 ov)

Grand Slam Los Angeles results

Men:
56kg – Jorge Nakamura
62kg – Joao Gabriel de Sousa
69kg – Gianni Grippo
77kg – Caio Soares
85kg – Manuel Ribamar
94kg – Gustavo Batista
110kg – Erberth Santos

Women:
49kg – Mayssa Bastos
55kg – Nathalie Ribeiro
62kg – Gabrielle McComb
70kg – Thamara Silva
90kg – Gabrieli Pessanha

SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20IPAD%20(2022)
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Remaining fixtures
  • August 29 – UAE v Saudi Arabia, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
  • September 5 – Iraq v UAE, Amman, Jordan (venue TBC)

You Were Never Really Here

Director: Lynne Ramsay

Starring: Joaquim Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsonov

Four stars

Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
  • Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
  • Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
  • Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
 
 
EXPATS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Lulu%20Wang%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nicole%20Kidman%2C%20Sarayu%20Blue%2C%20Ji-young%20Yoo%2C%20Brian%20Tee%2C%20Jack%20Huston%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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THE LIGHT

Director: Tom Tykwer

Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger

Rating: 3/5

The Energy Research Centre

Founded 50 years ago as a nuclear research institute, scientists at the centre believed nuclear would be the “solution for everything”.
Although they still do, they discovered in 1955 that the Netherlands had a lot of natural gas. “We still had the idea that, by 2000, it would all be nuclear,” said Harm Jeeninga, director of business and programme development at the centre.
"In the 1990s, we found out about global warming so we focused on energy savings and tackling the greenhouse gas effect.”
The energy centre’s research focuses on biomass, energy efficiency, the environment, wind and solar, as well as energy engineering and socio-economic research.