strategic influence

Hudson Institute & McCormick Tribune Foundation host Waller at broadcasting conference

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[News release] Annenberg Professor of International Communication J. Michael Waller was a participant at a conference on international broadcasting sponsored by the Hudson Institute and the McCormick Tribune Foundation. The April 25-27 event brought together former directors of the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, former government officials, current military information operations officers, and other professional communicators to discuss … Read more

The American way of propaganda: Lessons from the founding fathers

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by J. Michael Waller, Public Diplomacy and Political Warfare White Paper No. 1, The Institute of World Politics, 2006. This article is the first in a series of White Papers about the transformation of American public diplomacy and strategic communication. Introduction One of the most contentious debates in the war on terrorism centers on the “hearts … Read more

Bloggers credited with stopping European military sale to Venezuela

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In what could signal a transformation of world politics, bloggers are credited with stopping Europe’s $630 million military aircraft sale to Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez. Several online news services quickly picked up on the story and published a statement from an Institute of World Politics professor who has done cutting-edge work on blogging and international politics. Foreign … Read more

Boycott allies who arm our adversaries

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by J Michael Waller / Providence Journal / May 24, 2006. WASHINGTON – The arms embargo recently announced by the U.S. against the revolutionary regime in Venezuela is long overdue. Venezuela’s dictator, Hugo Chavez, has gone out of his way to align his country with terrorist regimes, aid extremist movements and break anti-terrorism treaty obligations. But at … Read more

Larry, Curly and Osama: Killing the enemy by ridicule

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by J Michael Waller / Los Angeles Times / May 21, 2006.  The piece, titled in the print edition as “Larry, Curly and Osama,” appears online as “Larry, Curly and Musab.” OSAMA BIN LADEN says he doesn’t fear dying. He says he fears being humiliated. So let’s give it to him. Bin Laden and others have thrived on … Read more

PSYOP by ridicule: New York Times says Waller’s paper got Pentagon review

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The New York Timesreports that officials in the Pentagon and Iraq have reviewed an academic paper that called for a strategic psychological campaign of ridicule against terrorist leaders and other adversaries. The paper “has been circulating at the Pentagon and among military commanders with experience in Iraq recently,” the New York Timesreported in its May 6, 2006 … Read more

When allies arm our adversaries: The case of Spanish military sales to Venezuela

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by J. Michael Waller, The Institute of World Politics, Occasional Paper, May 2006 Introduction The United States must draw the line when its foreign military suppliers endanger US national security interests. This is especially true when foreign defense companies aid and abet regimes that subvert their democratic neighbors and align with state sponsors of terrorism. … Read more

USA Today cites Waller’s strategy on weaponizing ridicule

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(Institute of World Politics news release)  A recently-published white paper on the use of ridicule as an instrument of political warfare by  IWP Professor J. Michael Waller has been recognized in the opinion pages of USA Today and is topic of discussion in the blogosphere. Author Peter Schweizer posited that “in a brilliant new white paper on public diplomacy, Michael Waller, the … Read more

Information a vital weapon

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by J Michael Waller, USA Today, December 7, 2005. [USA Today ran an editorial that criticizes the US military for planting propaganda in the Iraqi press. The editors invited Professor J. Michael Waller to provide an opposing view after the Pentagon refused. Both pieces appeared together on December 7. For the USA Today editorial, click here. Dr. Waller’s column … Read more

How to undermine Chavez regime in Venezuela: See VOA interviews

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The consolidating dictatorship of strongman Hugo Chavez is destroying the Venezuelan economy and threatening to destabilize South America and the Caribbean, Annenberg Professor J. Michael Waller said on the Voice of America radio and VOA-TV in separate interviews on June 21 and 23, 2005. In the Spanish-language programs, Waller called on Brazil, as Venezuela’s largest and most influential immediate … Read more