Date of Award

2015-01-01

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Intelligence and National Security

Advisor(s)

Damien Van Puyvelde

Abstract

This Thesis examines the Internet public relations content of Mali's Tuareg rebel group, the Mouvement National de la Liberation de L'Azawad (MNLA). Content analysis grounded in speech act securitization theory is applied to the 259 posts on the MNLA's primary French language website in order to determine if MNLA website posts correlate with the events occurring in the northern Mali conflict. The data reveals that various characteristics of MNLA statements do correlate with events in the conflict. What the MNLA says provides important insight into the organization and the conflict itself. The identified correlations allow for MNLA rhetoric and activity to be predicted by analysts based on what events may occur or are occurring related to the northern Mali conflict.

Language

en

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Size

97 pages

File Format

application/pdf

Rights Holder

Sean Neil Curtis

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