ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses Islamic State (IS) strategic narrative and how they have been able to forge a relatively coherent system, identity and policy narrative to seek to advance their interests. It seeks to understand the reception of the IS narrative in terms of narrative resonance, and how this problematises existing efforts in countering violent extremism (CVE) to project counter-narratives in to this space. One of the cornerstones of CVE is the use of public communication tools to dissuade the supporters of violent extremism. Fighting the digital battle can be a small part of fighting the war, and an even smaller part of the politics of ensuring coherent and secure identities for all citizens as well as the prospect of a good life. As potent as the narratives of violent extremists may be, they are not, in and of themselves, sufficient to account for radicalisation as a phenomenon, particularly amongst young Muslims in the West.
