These skeptical analysts argue that many current messaging strategies against the Islamic State are backfiring — and that polarizing politicians such as Trump have amplified the jihadists’ impact and been their best recruiting tool. Islamophobia helps the jihadists by fueling their narrative about embattled Muslims, Kenning argues. It creates a sense of wounded community — a shared identity of having been wronged, which prompts violent revenge.

Why have tens of thousands of people from around the world chosen to live under the Islamic State’s draconian rule and fight under its black flag? To understand this phenomenon, we must recognize that the world of radical Islam is not just death and destruction. It also encompasses fashion, music, poetry, dream interpretation. In short, jihadism offers its adherents a rich cultural universe in which they can immerse themselves.

In the mid-2000s, when the latter perspective was ascendant, the US and UK launched a "Cultural War on Terror", mobilising art, music and film - what the state department called Public Diplomacy 2.0 - aimed at disrupting the "jihadist narrative" and spreading liberal interpretations of Islam

 Standing at the front of a conference hall in Doha, the visiting sheikh told his audience of wealthy Qataris that to help the battered residents of Syria, they should not bother with donations to humanitarian programs or the Western-backed Free Syrian Army. “Give your money to the ones who will spend it on jihad, not aid,” implored the sheikh, Hajaj al-Ajmi, recently identified by the United States government as a fund-raiser for Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate.

In addition to pictures of mass executions and beheading videos, the Islamic State also puts out propaganda magazines containing stories about stoning adulterers and joining the jihad — all wrapped in a package with high production values.