If you will allow me a trip down memory lane, the USG did have, at one time, a robust national level strategic information infrastructure designed to both defend against misinformation and foreign (read "Soviet") agitprop campaigns as well as present a clear and unambiguous message of US interests and concerns. Begun under the Harry S. Truman administration, this structure continued through the eight years of the Dwight D. Eisenhower presidency. Specifically. these initiatives were governed by the following institutions:
Their stated goals and objectives were to formulate policies and plans for both overt information programs and covert PSYOP initiatives.
Unfortunately, this entire structure was dismantled during the JFK/LBJ years under the mistaken belief that these board structures were an outdated Cold War relic that was no longer needed in the modern era. No serious efforts were undertaken to remedy this short sighted decision until 1984 when President Ronald Reagan issued National Security Decision Directive 130 (NSDD-130) but even this had only marginal success. It was not unlike trying to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Subsequent administrations since Bill Clinton have fiddled around the edges of this problem set with limited success. Most efforts have ended in failures with perhaps the most spectacular being the short-lived DoD Office of Strategic Influence (2001-2002).
Because there remains no single coordinating entity to govern and disseminate USG strategic information, we currently have a hodge podge conglomeration of at least 40 separate agencies with at least 40 distinct charters and 40 unique cultures operating under at least 40 individual budgets that attempt to balance at least 40 different and often conflicting personal agendas all of which directly impact U.S. Strategic Communications, If this sounds like a recipe for messaging incoherence it is.
To clarify a point, I am not exclusively disparaging Democrat presidents in my analysis, however much I may think they deserve it. However, it is historical fact that the JFK/LBJ administrations did abolish the strategic communications infrastructure set in place by both the Truman and Eisenhower administrations. Neither Nixon, Ford nor Carter did anything constructive to fix this problem. As noted, Reagan tried but met with limited success. Since Reagan, neither Republican nor Democrat administrations have done much if anything to try and rectify these problems so a plague on both their houses where this subject is concerned.
As for breakfast, how does this Tuesday (23 April) sound? Maddy Lane's, at say 0900?
Hi Paul,
If you will allow me a trip down memory lane, the USG did have, at one time, a robust national level strategic information infrastructure designed to both defend against misinformation and foreign (read "Soviet") agitprop campaigns as well as present a clear and unambiguous message of US interests and concerns. Begun under the Harry S. Truman administration, this structure continued through the eight years of the Dwight D. Eisenhower presidency. Specifically. these initiatives were governed by the following institutions:
Psychological Operations Coordinating Committee (1950-1951)
Psychological Strategy Board (1951-1953)
Operations Coordinating Board (1953-1961)
Their stated goals and objectives were to formulate policies and plans for both overt information programs and covert PSYOP initiatives.
Unfortunately, this entire structure was dismantled during the JFK/LBJ years under the mistaken belief that these board structures were an outdated Cold War relic that was no longer needed in the modern era. No serious efforts were undertaken to remedy this short sighted decision until 1984 when President Ronald Reagan issued National Security Decision Directive 130 (NSDD-130) but even this had only marginal success. It was not unlike trying to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Subsequent administrations since Bill Clinton have fiddled around the edges of this problem set with limited success. Most efforts have ended in failures with perhaps the most spectacular being the short-lived DoD Office of Strategic Influence (2001-2002).
Because there remains no single coordinating entity to govern and disseminate USG strategic information, we currently have a hodge podge conglomeration of at least 40 separate agencies with at least 40 distinct charters and 40 unique cultures operating under at least 40 individual budgets that attempt to balance at least 40 different and often conflicting personal agendas all of which directly impact U.S. Strategic Communications, If this sounds like a recipe for messaging incoherence it is.
To clarify a point, I am not exclusively disparaging Democrat presidents in my analysis, however much I may think they deserve it. However, it is historical fact that the JFK/LBJ administrations did abolish the strategic communications infrastructure set in place by both the Truman and Eisenhower administrations. Neither Nixon, Ford nor Carter did anything constructive to fix this problem. As noted, Reagan tried but met with limited success. Since Reagan, neither Republican nor Democrat administrations have done much if anything to try and rectify these problems so a plague on both their houses where this subject is concerned.
As for breakfast, how does this Tuesday (23 April) sound? Maddy Lane's, at say 0900?