U.S. proceeding with new strategy to counter ISIL.

• Author: Versprille, Allyson
• Position: Global Defense

* The State Department is pursuing an alternative approach to counter the Islamic State's online propaganda and in turn stymie the group's recruitment of foreign terrorist fighters, according to a senior government official.

"There is no question we need to do more to counter ISIL's propaganda and online radicalization and recruitment efforts," said Tina Kaidanow, ambassador-at-large and coordinator for counterterrorism at State. "We recognize that the most effective messengers are our partners in majority Muslim countries, and we also understand frankly that governments are not usually the best agents for delivering this kind of content or pushing back on the kind of messaging ISIL utilizes," she said during an event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank.

Prior to the department's shift in strategy, its efforts focused on directly sending messages to potential ISIL recruits through the Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications, which was established by the president and secretary of state, Kaidanow said. However, officials have come to realize that when countering an organization that operates under the notion that Western governments are illegitimate, a message from them might not be the most effective source, she said. "How credible can you be [under those circumstance]?" she asked.

For this reason, in January the State Department announced the creation of the Global Engagement Center which aims to "shift focus on countering violent extremist messaging away from direct messaging and toward a growing emphasis on empowering and enabling partners, both government and non-government, across the globe," a White House fact sheet said.

The center will work...