Western Propaganda Research Articles

Taming the Persians :

Public diplomacy is going through perplexing changes and challenges due to technological innovations and renewed interest in the ‘soft power’ approach. This article analyses the methods and tactics of US public diplomacy regarding Iran. It discusses the close relationship between propaganda and public diplomacy and how different tactics and initiatives have been employed by the US in order to assist pro-democracy campaigns within Iran. The history of US broadcasting in Iran is also discussed to shed light on the changing dimensions of public diplomacy. However, the article argues that the intricacies of contemporary methods of communications and the diversities of the audiences in Iran can offset American propaganda techniques. It suggests from contemporary history that Cold War-style public diplomacy may not work in the case of Iran, since younger Persians have access to alternative viewpoints that neutralise or refract the effects of Western propaganda.

Western propaganda models reconsidered: the ‘Catherine Wheel’ of censorship circumvention in developing world internal conflicts

This study is a deep-text analysis of military censorship applied to the national press in the Sri Lankan conflict. We examine press coverage of two Sri Lankan military operations, namely Operation Jayasikurui (1997) and the Capture of Elephant Pass (2000), to identify patterns of signification that help us construct a novel theory of conflict reporting under censorship within the context of ethnic, intrastate conflict. Our study shows that Sri Lankan newspapers, while abiding by censorship regulations, contradictorily also manoeuvred around these regulations as if censorship did not exist. Noteworthy were the censorship circumvention techniques that were used. For example, journalists taught readers how to ‘read’ blank space. They used commentary to educate readers how to read the straight news. They used conflict frames to overcome bias towards official viewpoints. They used multi-source confirmation to avoid pre-dominance of official views. They used respectful words rather than demonised opponents. Great attention was paid to victims of the conflict, destruction of life and property, and civil society. Our findings do not accord well with previous theoretical models of the media role in society and of press censorship under conflict. The Sri Lankan press is highly intertwined within its cultural context and follows its own value system. We propose the ‘Catherine Wheel Model of Censorship Circumvention’ about press behaviour in times of internal conflict. Our model attempts to explain internal conflict within the developing world context in which the press system is based deeply in culture and is more accustomed to circumventing censorship than obeying it.

A myth and the reality: Does democratization bring investment?

With the collapse of the Soviet Union and all it symbolized in 1991 especially the seeming triumph of neo liberalism, the democratization project became a bestseller and the tool of interference in the politics of nations. The platform of relationship is the implementation of the Washington Consensus by most countries. But the real bogey is the one that linked improvement in standard of living, investments, jobs and stock market reaction to democratization. Embarking on political reform, it has been argued, would lead to inflow of investments. Since it is the only way to survive most developing countries have been hitching a ride. But it is a ride that is fraught with difficulties as expectation far outweighs the benefit. Is it really the case that democratization brings jobs and improvement in living standards? With most democratizing countries waiting for so little an investment, is there enough to go round? Considering Africa’s economic rating in the global investment scale and the attraction of the Eastern European and Asian economies, how many investment resources is left for the continent? Is this not hype, in the many, sustained by western propaganda? Indeed what kind of investment is the government in Nigeria attracting? Key words: Democracy, investment, myth, reality, politics.

Can the information war on terror be won? A polemical essay

This polemical essay argues that, despite many presentational mistakes in the West's information war on terror since 9/11, the `propaganda' war is not yet lost. Indeed, it tentatively suggests that although those mistakes have made the task of `winning hearts and minds' in the Islamic world harder and longer, the root cause of failure to date lies with a failure to `know yourself' — i.e. to address those elements, such as foreign policy decisions, which fuel support for Al Qaida. Although the terrorist `organization' has proved exceptionally adept in its own propaganda, it is not just inept western propaganda that lies at the heart of the problem. It is the inability to see yourself as others see you, even if — or perhaps — you disagree with `them'.

‘Keep the Indonesian Pot Boiling’: Western Covert Intervention in Indonesia, October 1965–March 1966

This study examines the role played by the West in the destruction of the Indonesian communist party, the PKI, and the removal of the radical Indonesian president, Sukarno, in 1965–66. After the murder of six generals in October 1965 the Indonesian army massacred thousands of communists and seized power from Sukarno. The United States secretly helped the army in this period by providing intelligence, arms, medicines and radios and by giving assurances that Britain would not attack Indonesia while the army was suppressing the PKI. The US, Britain, Australia and Malaysia also used propaganda to encourage hostility in Indonesia towards the PKI. The article assesses the impact of Western covert intervention and concludes that Western propaganda may have encouraged the mass killings of the communists.

Richard J. Aldrich, Gary Rawnsley, and Ming-Yeh T. Rawnsley, eds., The Clandestine Cold War in Asia, 1945–65: Western Intelligence, Propaganda, and Special Operations. London: Frank Cass, 2000. 298 pp. $57.00.

January 01 2002 The Clandestine Cold War in Asia, 1945–65: Western Intelligence, Propaganda, and Special Operations. Richard J.Aldrich, GaryRawnsley, and Ming-Yeh T.Rawnsley, eds., The Clandestine Cold War in Asia, 1945–65: Western Intelligence, Propaganda, and Special Operations.London: Frank Cass, 2000. 298 pp. $57.00. John Kenneth Knaus John Kenneth Knaus Harvard University Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Author and Article Information John Kenneth Knaus Harvard University Online Issn: 1531-3298 Print Issn: 1520-3972 © 2002 The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology2002 Journal of Cold War Studies (2002) 4 (1): 92–95. https://doi.org/10.1162/jcws.2002.4.1.92 Cite Icon Cite Permissions Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Search Site Citation John Kenneth Knaus; The Clandestine Cold War in Asia, 1945–65: Western Intelligence, Propaganda, and Special Operations.. Journal of Cold War Studies 2002; 4 (1): 92–95. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/jcws.2002.4.1.92 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAll JournalsJournal of Cold War Studies Search Advanced Search This content is only available as a PDF. © 2002 The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology2002 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

The Clandestine War in Asia, 1945-65: Western Intelligence, Propaganda, and Special Operations

The Clandestine War in Asia, 1945-65: Western Intelligence, Propaganda, and Special Operations

Legacies of Secret Service: Renegade SOE and the Karen Struggle in Burma, 1948–50

(1999). Legacies of Secret Service: Renegade SOE and the Karen Struggle in Burma, 1948–50. Intelligence and National Security: Vol. 14, The Clandestine Cold War in Asia, 1945–65: Western Intelligence, Propaganda and Special Operations, pp. 130-148.

Winning in Malaya: An intelligence success story

(1999). Winning in Malaya: An intelligence success story. Intelligence and National Security: Vol. 14, The Clandestine Cold War in Asia, 1945–65: Western Intelligence, Propaganda and Special Operations, pp. 267-283.

US humint and comint in the Korean War: From the approach of War to the Chinese intervention

(1999). US humint and comint in the Korean War: From the approach of War to the Chinese intervention. Intelligence and National Security: Vol. 14, The Clandestine Cold War in Asia, 1945–65: Western Intelligence, Propaganda and Special Operations, pp. 17-63.

Taiwan's propaganda cold war: The offshore islands crises of 1954 and 1958

(1999). Taiwan's propaganda cold war: The offshore islands crises of 1954 and 1958. Intelligence and National Security: Vol. 14, The Clandestine Cold War in Asia, 1945–65: Western Intelligence, Propaganda and Special Operations, pp. 82-101.

Russia: A seapower with a difference1

Russia's power at sea has been a matter subject to speculation in the West. As the largest continental power, Western propaganda made us believe that Russia was not a maritime power‐at least not in comparison to the US. Professor Geoffrey Till reveals the actual size and strength of the Russian navy from the Tsarist period through to the 1980s. The West has had, in Till's opinion, a rather patronising view of the Russian approach to maritime achievements. Far from a mere imitation of Western policy, however, the Russian's were in fact innovative in their approach to naval power. Both in the Tsarist and the Soviet periods, Russia developed interesting and distinctive approaches, strategies and weaponry of its own, which have traditionally been underestimated.

The Ahmadiya Movement and its Western Propaganda

If he knows where to look for them, the traveller may find among the suburbs of London two Mohammedan mosques — one about thirty-six years old at Woking in Surrey, the other only a year or two old at Southfields near Wandsworth. Here, every week, come English worshippers, and from these centres of Islam, with their resident missionaries, go forth various types of propaganda aiming to present Islam in favorable and convincing fashion to the modern western world. Both of these headquarters are controlled by branches or sub-sects of the Ahmadiya Movement — a recent heretical offshoot of Mohammedanism. The study of its origin and present teachings, therefore, has more than academic value, for it will reveal the history and aims of the only branch of Islam which is seriously trying to convert western Christians.