Getting serious about strategic influence

By J Michael Waller / Journal of International Security Affairs / December 2009. A decade has passed since the Clinton administration and the late Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) joined hands in destroying America’s public diplomacy machinery. The shocking development occurred for a combination of reasons: a turf-conscious State Department that wanted total control of public diplomacy … Read more

Addressing NATO officers on creative PSYOP

TAMPA – As the wrapup speaker at the 22ndannual NATO Joint Senior Psychological Operations Conference, IWP Professor J Michael Waller outlined a range of new opportunities for the military and intelligence communities in the area of psychological warfare. The conference topic was “Psychological Operations Support to Counterinsurgency.” Waller proposed reviving an alliance-wide psychological strategy worldview and doctrine. The US … Read more

Fighting the War of Ideas like a Real War

This ground-breaking monograph by J Michael Waller departs from the conventional view of public diplomacy and international communication in time of war and argues for deploying messages as weapons of attack against the terrorists and other extremists. Proposing an immediate-term strategy that requires no bureaucratic reorganization or major budgetary changes, Fighting the War of Ideas like … Read more

Larry, Curly and Osama: Killing the enemy by ridicule

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

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

Information a vital weapon

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