For all the sophistication of the videography and production quality of ISIS, many of these ideas were not much different in the 1990s. The scale of support has increased, but these ideas were already there.
Award-winning investigative journalist Tam Hussein’s latest article for New Lines explores the mythologization of Afghanistan by Islamists in Europe and America. In this episode, he talks to New Lines’ Lydia Wilson about how his experiences growing up in London informed his essay, how pro-jihadist propaganda spread before the internet, and why the far-right admire the Taliban.