School of Media and Communication

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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 information intended for foreign audiences, is based on "an outdated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
>



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