Manuel R. Torres-Soriano- PhD
- Professor (Full) at Pablo de Olavide University
Manuel R. Torres-Soriano
- PhD
- Professor (Full) at Pablo de Olavide University
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64
Publications
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Introduction
Manuel R. Torres Soriano is a Professor of Political Science at Pablo de Olavide University of Sevilla (Spain) and Director of the Diploma in Analysis on Jihadist Terrorism, Insurgencies and Radical Movements of this university. He was a Visiting Fellow at Stanford University, Johns Hopkins University, King’s College of London, London School of Economics and Harvard University. He is the author of the books: The Echo of Terror: Ideology and Propaganda in Jihadist Terrorism (2009), Al Andalus 2.
Current institution
Additional affiliations
January 2002 - September 2005
September 2005 - present
Publications
Publications (64)
Espejismos del mañana: Promesas y fracasos de la predicción política es una exploración provocadora sobre el arte de anticipar el futuro. Con un enfoque riguroso pero accesible, Torres Soriano nos guía por un terreno donde la historia, la ciencia, la literatura y la cultura popular se cruzan para mostrar cómo hemos intentado, una y otra vez, ver lo...
This article explores the possibility of a fifth wave of technophobic terrorism that could emerge around 2040. Drawing on the theoretical framework of 'waves' of terrorism proposed by David Rapoport, it argues that rapid technological change has led to a growing rejection of these tools in various sectors. This discontent, fuelled by fears of job l...
This article examines the role of media platforms in the jihadist propaganda ecosystem. It presents a case study of the Muntasir Media platform which achieved extensive media impact in Spain during the period 2018–19. A descriptive analysis is provided of the emergence, evolution and demise of the platform, which can be viewed as an archetypal illu...
Cada innovación tecnológica con repercusiones para la seguridad y la defensa genera un periodo de incertidumbre en el cual no existe una idea clara sobre cómo integrar sus potencialidades en el planeamiento estratégico. La reflexión teórica suele dilatarse en el tiempo ya que los efectos de una nueva herramienta no siempre son evidentes y suelen de...
This article offers a descriptive analysis of intelligence operations carried out by the United States and its allies against the presence of jihadist groups on the Internet during the period 2001–2020. In contrast to actions aimed at eliminating the virtual spaces in which terrorists operate, the intelligence operations analysed here are designed...
The present article contends that terrorist activism on the Internet is determined by the technical configuration and ease of use of the tool. Engagement in Internet activities considered criminal offenses is not only explained by a progression in the level of radicalization of the individual. Rather, the type of barriers to entry which they must o...
The claim of an attack is a critical moment for the communicative activity of a terrorist organisation. However, terrorist violence does not always produce the consequences desired by its perpetrators. Some of these attacks are irrelevant or reect a negative image of their capacities and skills. At other times, the effects are counterproductive bec...
La colección Actualidad forma parte del catálogo de publicaciones científicas de la fundación y está destinada tanto al lector especializado como a la opinión pública en general. Cada una de sus ediciones se estructura como informes monográficos para el fomento de la reflexión y el análisis sobre aspectos de relevancia para la sociedad andaluza del...
The present article aims to further our understanding of the process whereby terrorists choose targets for attacks. It offers a case study based on information from a jihadist cell broken up by police in the province of Barcelona, Spain in April 2015 in Operation Caronte. Based on detailed analysis of conversations between cell members, obtained th...
This article seeks to answer the question “What will be the main cause of terrorist conflict in the year 2040?”. It argues that terrorism would be primarily motivated in the long term by technophobia, which – to take David Rapoport’s analysis a stage further – would prompt a fifth wave of modern terrorism. The article offers a scenario analysis, de...
El propósito de este documento es analizar desde una visión prospectiva cómo la irrupción de la inteligencia artificial va a transformar las operaciones de influencia y su recepción por parte de la sociedad. Se presta atención a los posibles efectos de la pérdida de centralidad de los humanos en estas operaciones, la devaluación de la percepción se...
The present article examines the relevance of jihadist propaganda as an indicator of the threat from terrorism. To that end, it uses jihadist propaganda output referring to Spain as a case study. It proposes an instrument of measurement based on content analysis, in which the origin, format, content, and distribution method of the materials are tak...
This article proposes an in-depth study into the specific dynamics of
cyberspace as a stage onto which to project so-called “proxy wars”. Its
basic thesis is that the main advantage which this strategy provides
(low risk of retaliation by the actor under attack) is also its principal
weakness, since indirect participation in a cyber conflict detrac...
Resumen: El propósito de este artículo es analizar el impacto del factor individual sobre la actividad propagandística del terrorismo, tomando como objeto de estudio los grupos de inspiración yihadista. Se mantiene la tesis de que la principal variable que influye en la acción comunicativa de estas organizaciones es la personalidad y habilidades de...
Resumen El propósito de este artículo es abordar los principales factores que explican el éxito propagandístico del Estado Islámico (o Dáesh) en Internet, con el ob-jetivo de plantear recomendaciones sobre cómo contrarrestar su dimensión comunicativa. Se analizan las ventajas propagandísticas que aportan la mo-vilización insurgente, cómo ha afectad...
This paper offers a descriptive analysis of the propaganda activities of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb on Internet social media. It examines the group's propaganda actions from its creation in 1998 until the end of 2015 and argues that the use of social media, Twitter in particular, has failed to offer any real remedy to its mediocre propaganda a...
I. INTRODUCCIÓN La violencia terrorista de inspiración yihadista trata de legitimarse a partir de una serie de conceptos de naturaleza religiosa y planteamientos ideológicos escasamente novedosos. Su principal referencia lo constituye el salafismo, entendido en un sentido amplio como un movimiento de renovación religiosa iniciado en el siglo XVIII,...
This article examines the issue of the credibility of the organisation known as the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, which released a series of statements claiming responsibility for several of the most important jihadist attacks perpetrated between 2003 and 2005. A critical analysis of the information available on the group leads to the conclusion that...
This article offers a descriptive analysis of the private interactions which took place
on the jihadist Internet forum known as Ansar Al Mujahideen between 2008 and
2010. The analysis of the non-visible part of the forum contributes to a more robust
underpinning of some current assumptions regarding the jihadist Internet infrastructure
and its hier...
An examination of the organizational nature of the threat posed by jihadi terrorism, supplying quantitative and qualitative data on the dynamics behind the
creation, evolution, and disappearance of the main jihadi Internet forums during the period 2008–2012. An analysis of the origins and functions of the forums,
their links with terrorist organiza...
Violent extremist groups are currently making intensive use of Internet fora for recruitment to terrorism. These fora are under constant scrutiny by security agencies, private vigilante groups, and hackers, who sometimes shut them down with cybernetic attacks. However, there is a lack of experimental and formal understanding of the recruitment dyna...
There are different views about how jihadist terrorism has affected the new geopolitical context generated by the revolts in the Arab world. This paper analyzes the development of the most significant events produced in the region since late 2010. The conclusion is that the revolts have weaken some of the main elements of terrorist mobilization, bu...
There are two schools of thought about the impact of Internet on the processes of political change. On the one hand, individuals who believe that this technology has some features that promote the spread of democracy around the world, and those who believe that this instrument consolidates authoritarianism and political repression. The purpose of t...
This article undertakes a descriptive analysis of the jihadist group, the Global Islamic Media Front. Using information obtained from cells broken up in the West, it argues that, in addition to its propaganda actions in support of terrorism, the group fulfils three additional functions: (a) It serves as an “identity refuge” for individuals wishing...
Jihadist terrorism has discovered in the Internet a valuable instrument to strengthen its activities. However, in using this technology the terrorists are exposed to new vulnerabilities. The Internet plays a leveling role: each new advantageous use it brings is accompanied by a new opportunity to weaken terrorist groups. The present article examine...
This paper analyses the propaganda of the Algerian terrorist group the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat/Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) from 1998 to 2009 and evaluates the repercussions of the group's merger with Al-Qaeda on its discourse. The paper argues that integration into the Al-Qaeda hierarchy has had little influence on such d...
This article offers a descriptive analysis of the evolution of the propaganda actions of the Algerian Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), later known as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). An examination of the content of the propaganda released by the terrorist group between 1998 and 2009 allows us to identify the different stages...
In this article, the authors support the idea that nation-states have some structural limitations in order to adapt their strategies to the requirements of the new information dimension of armed conflicts. This, however, is not the case of their asymmetric adversaries, provided with some characteristics that allow them to exploit every potential of...
The purpose of this article is to look at the importance and treatment that Spain receives in jihadist propaganda. This study offers a series of empirical observations based on a content analysis of a sample of propaganda produced by jihadist groups between January 1994 and September 2008. The analysis of this material, the context in which it was...
Resumen: Este artículo analiza la eficacia de la acción propagandística del grupo terrorista Al Qaeda sobre su principal audiencia: los países de mayoría musulmana. Dicha actividad comunica-tiva pretende conseguir un mayor apoyo social a los fines últimos de esta organización. Para reali-zar esta evaluación, se recurre al análisis de los principale...
La creciente estabilización de Irak, el cambio de Administración estadounidense y el anuncio de la próxima retirada de Irak del grueso de su contingente militar supondrán la desactivación de Irak como factor de transformación y movilización del movimiento yihadista y el cierre de un ciclo que tendrá repercusiones en la evolución de la amenaza terro...
This article analyzes the possible relationship between terrorist groups and the media. As an example, a case study on the Al Qaeda organization will be used. Our methodology will involve analyzing the content of its public statements and examining the developments that have taken place during its history as an organization. Both perspectives sugge...
Entender la lógica de un conflicto bélico exige que nos adentremos en cual es la ideología que informa alguna de sus decisiones fundamentales. En este artículo se parte de que la invasión norteamericana de Irak, en 2003, estuvo fuertemente influenciada por algunos de los postulados teóricos del pensamiento neoconservador. A lo largo de este trabajo...
This article analyses the use of the Internet by the terrorists responsible for the Madrid bombings of March 11th, 2004. The computers and USB memory drives seized by the Spanish police form the main source for this analysis. This case study is contrasted with the contemporary theoretical thinking on the relation between terrorism and the Internet.
The Global Jihadist Movement (GJM) has a series of well-defined objectives, which constitute the central points of their ideology. In the realization of these goals, propaganda and public communication play a central role. This article studies the evolution of the principal characteristics of GJM propaganda, analyzing over 2,000 documents issued by...
A lo largo del verano de 2006, de manera paralela a la crisis desatada entre Hezbollah en el Líbano y el Estado de Israel, hizo su aparición ante la opinión pública una organización que proclamaba ser “Hezbollah en América Latina”. En el siguiente estudio realizamos un análisis del contenido de la página principal de esta organización con objeto de...
Tesis Univ. Granada. Departamento de Ciencia Política y de la Administración. Leída el 7 de julio de 2007
