Phil Taylor's papers
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BACK TO : PROPAGANDA AND THE GWOT (NOW 'THE LONG WAR') Year 7 - 2008
DoD Strategic Communication Concept Eyes Smith-Mundt > From: matt@mountainrunner.us > To: johnhbrown30@hotmail.com > Subject: Smith-Mundt > Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 06:43:30 -0700 > > > > Plan stresses 'listening as much as transmitting > DRAFT DOD STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION CONCEPT EYES SMITH-MUNDT ACT > > Inside the Pentagon, May 29, 2008 > > > The U.S. military's draft concept for how commanders should carry out > strategic communication within a broader national effort circa 2016 to > 2028 proposes revising American antipropaganda laws. > > The draft document asserts American statutes barring the release of > information from "certain military resources" to U.S. audiences may > need to be updated. > > The 1948 Smith-Mundt Act, prohibiting domestic distribution of > information intended for foreign audiences, is based on "an outdated > model of global communication," U.S. Joint Forces Command argues. > > "The principle of not misleading domestic audiences remains valid -- > in fact, misleading any audience is unusually counterproductive in the > long run -- but this could be achieved by other ways than arbitrarily > prohibiting any domestic use of some capabilities," the concept > states. > > The draft document also reinforces "listening as much as > transmitting," which is in sync with recent guidance from Chairman of > the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen. > > Inside the Pentagon reviewed the April 25 draft of the strategic > communication joint integrating concept, or JIC. JFCOM expects the > Joint Requirements Oversight Council to approve the concept in > September. > > JFCOM's J-9 concepts groups, U.S. Special Operations Command and U.S. > Strategic Command are working together in this effort, which was > spearheaded by the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review execution roadmap > for strategic communication. > > Also involved are the combatant commands, the services, the Joint > Staff, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and other Pentagon > agencies. > > Dated April 25, the briefing argues there will be "no separate > strategic communication process in the future, but that strategic > communication will be inherent in the planning and conduct of all > operations." > > The notion is in line with a Dec. 14, 2007, memo, in which Mullen > advocated making the transition to embedded strategic communication > thinking and planning across the Defense Department. The United States > must focus less on promoting its own story globally and more on > listening to Muslims worldwide and understanding the subtleties of > that community, writes Mullen (ITP, Jan. 10, p1). > > The JIC spends a great deal of time discussing the idea of influence, > which it defines as "convincing others to think and act in ways > compatible with our objectives, whether this means causing others to > adopt a specific course of action or simply understand us better and > accept us more." > > Influence may cover a range of activities such as simple informing, > educating, persuading, urging, inducing and coercing, according to the > brief. > > The term sometimes carries negative connotations -- particularly when > a friend or ally is the object of the influence -- because the term is > often associated with deceptive manipulation or exploitation usually > exercised against that person's best interests, it explains. But, the > authors argue, the word influence under the draft concept lacks this > connotation. > > "Influence is a pervasive and fundamental form of any social > interaction, as essential to cooperation as it is to competition or > conflict," states the JFCOM brief. > > In the future, the challenge of influence will be critical because > "success in the globally interconnected information environment will > frequently be less a matter of imposing one's will and more a matter > of ideas and example," the brief states. "Joint forces today are not > as effective as they will need to be at meeting this challenge > successfully." > > A joint forces commander operating in the 2016 to 2028 time frame will > employ a range of informational and other capabilities to identify, > segment, study and listen to potential audiences, the authors write. > > The commander must conceive, produce and coordinate signals through > both information and actions designed to affect the perceptions, > attitudes, beliefs and behaviors of selected audiences in ways > supporting the mission and promoting broader national interests, the > concept states. He or she must also monitor, measure and assess the > effects of these signals. > > Finally, the commander will have to modify action and information > based on feedback on the effects of the signals. > > Although strategic communication will not appear dramatically > different than it is today, the "psychological impact will be central > in all operational planning and execution to the degree that strategic > communication will no longer even be recognized as a distinct > discipline," states the document. > > Moreover, it says, intelligence will change significantly to support > the needs of strategic communication, stressing the collection and > analysis of information on the perceptions, attitudes and beliefs of > potential audiences. These do not qualify as traditional intelligence > targets, it adds. > > The draft concept suggests more "deliberative and proactive" strategic > communication in the future will allow commanders to better anticipate > developments and have "on-call" communication plans in place. > > A heavy focus on assessment will also figure into this new brand of > strategic communication, according to the concept. > > Once the concept is adopted, communications will be "more > discriminate, more cohesive, more adaptive, faster and more > decentralized," the authors say. > > Implementing the plan will require several key capabilities. > > Commanders need to be able to access, produce and maintain > intelligence and other knowledge on the perceptions, attitudes and > beliefs of potential audiences. > > Commanders must be able to access, produce and maintain intelligence > on complex social communication systems, including the characteristics > of media channels and the intentions, capabilities and efforts of > other "influencers" within and having an effect on the joint > operations area. > > To bring the concept into effect, commanders should detect, monitor, > translate and assess the effects of the strategic communication > efforts on friendly governments, non-state groups, neutrals, > competitors and adversaries, the concept says. > > Moreover, these future leaders must be able to estimate the direct and > indirect effects of potential signals on the perceptions, attitudes, > beliefs and actions of selected audiences, the authors write. > > Other important skills will include conceiving and formulating > "timely, resonant . . . and culturally attuned messages" to sway > selected audiences; producing and delivering information to influence > selected audiences; conceiving and coordinating physical actions or > maintaining physical capabilities to influence selected audiences; > extensively documenting joint force actions; and monitoring, measuring > and assessing the impact of "friendly signals" on audiences in > relation to expected effects. > > Finally, it will be necessary for these commanders to integrate all > joint force actions to maximize desired effects on selected audiences, > and coordinate joint forces actions with the influence efforts of > other agencies and partners within the context of a broader national > strategy, the draft states. > > There are, however, risks and implications linked to adopting this > concept, as spelled out in the document. > > For example, it argues, the concept establishes deep understanding of > potential audiences and social communication networks as the necessary > basis for effective communication. > > "This type and level of understanding may prove unattainable," > according to the JFCOM document. "This said, there is no minimum level > of understanding required to execute this concept. However, the > quality of any communication effort will vary directly with the level > of understanding." > > The key to lessen this risk is to improve the process of building > situational awareness -- primarily through doctrine, training and > education -- with respect to audience perceptions, attitudes and > beliefs, it states. > > The greatest implications to instituting the concept will fall in the > areas of doctrine, leader development and intelligence, according to > the draft concept. > > Wrapping up their discussion of a new brand of strategic > communication, the authors offer an imaginary scenario where the > policy is applied to the southwest Pacific region of Mesonesia. > > An economically vibrant and politically dynamic "Pacific Tiger," the > region is religiously and ethnically diverse in 2016. > > Although the United States and Mesonesia have never been close, the > U.S. administration decides the "conditions are right for détente" and > embarks on a plan from 2016 to 2020 to increase understanding and > improve relations between the two countries, as outlined in the > document. > > The authors explain this means "improving the U.S. brand image" in > Mesonesia, as well as throughout the entire region, and preventing the > global Islamist insurgency from gaining influence in Mesonesia. > > Strategic communication will play a significant role in this strategy, they > say. > > The U.S. Information Agency -- reestablished in this imaginary > scenario -- will coordinate the national effort, while U.S. Pacific > Command will play a supporting role, the document states. > > "Because opinion polling indicates strong distrust of the U.S. > military among most Mesonesians, the joint application of strategic > communication purposely remains in the background and is rarely > distinguishable from the broader effort," the document says. > > In addition, all strategic communication activities of PACOM will be > conducted under the guidance of the Mesonesia Interagency Working > Group, which includes U.S. government agency membership. > > The United States also provides security training, foreign assistance, > engineering support, participation in international exercises, > expanded exchange programs and regional security conferences. > > In his regular guidance to commanders, the fictional PACOM commander > argues the United States is sometimes too focused on getting its > message out. > > "We've got to listen more and transmit less," the fictional commander > writes, echoing Mullen. "More dialogue, less lecturing." -- Fawzia > Sheikh > |