The American way of propaganda

Since 9/11, this blogger has heard well over a dozen senior US government officials reject the idea of waging political warfare and all-out propaganda campaigns against terrorists, because such activity is "un-American."

Those officials are wrong.

History proves it. In the first of a series of White Papers on public diplomacy and strategic communications, I explain how aggressive use of propaganda and political warfare is as American as Old Glory.

Our nation's most revered founders - John Adams, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson among them - were skilled propagandists and political warriors.

Our warfighters and strategists would do well to learn from them.

"The American Way of Propaganda: Lessons from the Founding Fathers" is available from the Institute of World Politics. Click for html version or pdf document.