Operationalizing Defense Support to Public Diplomacy

Abstract

In the global "war of ideas" currently being fought, defense support to public diplomacy, (DSPD), an enabling element of strategic communications, is a means that can contribute to the notion of countering ideological support to terrorism (CIST) by reinforcing U.S. strategic communication objectives in support of the U.S. National Security Strategy and regional engagement initiatives. This is difficult at best to implement at the strategic level, especially in the media environment and internet age. At the operational level, there is a lack of doctrine, policy, existence of "best practices" or indeed agreement on how defense support to public diplomacy should be done. This paper examines recent operational cases where military operations supported public diplomacy objectives to achieve U.S. desired outcomes. It will analyze key success factors for consideration by operational level commanders, and offer recommendations on supporting public diplomacy as an important enabling military capability.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 23, 2006
Accession Number
ADA463278

Entities

People

  • James M. Gannon

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Department Of State
  • Doctrine
  • Foreign Relations
  • Humanitarian Assistance
  • Information Operations
  • Interagency Coordination
  • Joint Military Activities
  • Military History
  • Military Operations
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Psychological Operations
  • Public Diplomacy
  • Terrorism
  • United States Pacific Command
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Strategic Security Studies