107 CHAPTER 6 Spectacles of Terror: Media and the Cultural Production of Terrorism Suzi Mirgani Ever since September 11, 2001, terrorism and the discourse of terrorism have been among the most prominent features of the frst two decades of the twenty-frst century. The Middle East has been defned, in particular, by extremist ideologies, with many countries falling victim to sustained terrorist attacks. In the age of globalization, and with the added dimen- sion of digital media and global communication networks, these terrorist ideologies and activities have gained international momentum, and have been imported, exported, and home grown by sympathetic networks all over the world. Terrorist attacks are essentially acts of political communication, and a means of partaking in a global discourse, no matter how rogue and alien the language of violence utilized. In many ways, “terrorism is com- munication and, as such, is really aimed at the people watching.” 1 Since international terrorist networks, whether the Islamic State, al-Qaʿida, al- Shabaab, the Taliban, or Boko Haram, are not always well equipped or consistently funded, they often rely heavily on the persuasive abilities of a © The Author(s) 2017 N. Lenze et al. (eds.), Media in the Middle East, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-65771-4_6 S. Mirgani (*) Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS), Georgetown University in Qatar, Doha, Qatar meinele@nus.edu.sg