Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Strategic Communication

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DIANE Publishing, 2004 - 111 pages
The Defense Science Board Summer Study on the Transition to and from Hostilities was formed in early 2004 (the terms of reference are contained in Appendix A) and culminated in the production of a final report and summary briefing in August of 2004. The DSB Task Force on Strategic Communication conducted its deliberations within the overall Summer Study schedule and revisited a topic that was addressed in October 2001.1 Task Force members and Government advisors are identified in Appendix B. The current Strategic Communication Task Force re-examined the purposes of strategic communication and the salience of recommendations in the earlier study. It then considered the following questions: (1) What are the consequences of changes in the strategic communication environment? (2) What Presidential direction and strategic communication means are required? (3) What should be done about public diplomacy and open military information operations? The Task Force met with representatives from the National Security Council (NSC), White House Office of Global Communications, Department of State (DOS), Department of Defense (DOD), Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), and the private sector (the schedule of meetings, briefings and discussions is contained in Appendix C). Based on extensive interaction with a broad range of sectors in the government, commercial, and academic worlds, as well as a series of highly interactive internal debates, we have reached the following conclusions and recommendations.

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Page 93 - Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict (OASD/SO/LIC) and the Office of the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (DOS/R).
Page 71 - US international broadcasting services including the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and Radio/TV Marti were placed under an independent federal entity, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG).
Page 21 - ... and gave high priority to strategic communications planning. White House officials, Cabinet secretaries, and military leaders appeared regularly on Al Jazeera and other global media outlets. Shaping message personally became part of the daily routine of America's top political and military leaders.13 The promise of these early efforts did not lead to transformation of instruments and institutions. Three positive developments, however, deserve comment. Tactical communication. The President, the...
Page 61 - The Joint Chiefs of Staff are the principal military advisers to the President, the National Security Council, and the Secretary of Defense.
Page 101 - Testimony Before the Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations, Committee on Government Reform, House of Representatives...
Page 40 - hate our freedom,' but rather they hate our policies... when American public diplomacy talks about bringing democracy to Islamic societies, this is seen as no more than self-serving hypocrisy....
Page 6 - THE ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT FOR NATIONAL SECURITY AFFAIRS THE DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE THE CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF THE DIRECTOR...
Page 21 - The terrorist attacks of September 11 underscored the urgency of implementing an effective public diplomacy campaign. Those who abet terror by spreading distortion and hate and inciting others, take full advantage of the global news cycle. We must also use that cycle.
Page 39 - Yet the paradox today is that our enemy is thriving in an environment of free and open information flows. Thus our challenge is to transcend Cold War cliches, to seek out new and creative responses — especially in the realm of strategic communication — and to do so most urgently, because at this moment it is the enemy that has the advantage. 2.3 What is the Problem? Who Are We Dealing With? The information campaign — or as some still would have it, "the war of ideas," or the struggle for "hearts...
Page 96 - Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on The Creation and Dissemination of All Forms of Information in Support of Psychological Operations (PSYOP) in Time of Military Conflict, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, Washington, DC, May 2000.

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