Propaganda
Can a Word Decide a War
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20139340 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Dennis M Murphy (corresponding author), James F White (0000-0002-3385-6134) |
| Year | 2007 |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Publication date | 2007-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The US Army War College Quarterly Parameters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0031-1723 • E-ISSN: 0031-1723 |
| Publisher | United States Army War College Press (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.55540/0031-1723.2383 |
| OpenAlex | W82707017 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 5 |
T wo years ago, the Lincoln Group, a government contractor, sold un- attributed pro-United States stories to Iraqi newspapers in an effort to win the war of ideas and counter negative images of the US-led coalition. The mainstream American press, members of Congress, and other government leaders immediately and loudly condemned these actions as "propaganda" and contrary to the democratic ideals of a free press. 1 A Pentagon investigation, however, found that no laws were broken or policies violated. Nor was the term propaganda ever used by the Lincoln Group or US military in its efforts to apply the information element of power in a war in which the center of gravity (in Clausewitzian terms) is defined as "extremist ideology." 2 Which begs the question: How do you fight a battle of ideas with one hand tied behind your back? The ways and means of winning that battle are both informed and ultimately restricted by an innate US culture that struggles with democratic ideals seemingly at odds with the use of information to win over hearts and minds even while the enemy maintains no such inhibitions
Linguistics · Political science · Word (group theory) · Intelligence, Security, War Strategy · Law · Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,32 |
| Citation span | 2007 - 2019 (13) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |