On the Nature of Strategic Communications
Abstract
Strategic communications, as now generally understood within the Department of Defense (DOD), encompass (to use the bureaucratic terms of art) public affairs, "defense support for public diplomacy," and military psychological operations (PSYOP). That there has been something less than smooth cooperation among these various components is hardly a secret. In the fall of 2001, for instance, the Pentagon established an Office of Strategic Influence (OSI) with significant funding of its own to plan and coordinate a joint and coalition campaign to shape the communications battlefield in the war on terror. This promising initiative promptly blew up. In early 2002, Secretary Donald Rumsfeld felt compelled to disestablish OSI when press accounts alleged that the office was placing so-called disinformation in the American media (later investigation showed the charges to be false or grossly misleading). Evidently, these attacks were inspired from within the Pentagon itself by elements of the DOD public affairs community. Continuing tension between the PSYOP and public affairs communities over the fundamental nature of strategic communications remains perhaps the most serious impediment to more effective action by the Defense Department in this critical arena.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA519479
Entities
People
- Carnes Lord
Organizations
- National Defense University