A History of Psychological Warfare: A History of Psychological Warfare From Political Warfare to Information Support
Prof. Philip M. Taylor
University of Leeds
As Old as War itself: As Old as War itself Sun Tsu (‘the acme of skill’)
Trojan Horse (Deception)
Walls of Jericho
Alexander the Great
Sack of Carthage (propaganda of the deed)
Caesar and his circuses (importance of domestic morale)
More relevant now than ever before: More relevant now than ever before The New Jericho: Panama, 1989
The Gulf War as catalyst
Kosovo: a sobering lesson
Propaganda of the Deed – September 11th 2001
The ‘war’ against Terrorism
Evolution of Terminology: Evolution of Terminology Political Warfare
Psychological Warfare
Psychological Operations
Information Warfare
Information Operations
Information Support (UK)
Perception Management
It IS propaganda: It IS propaganda Black (Covert)
White (Overt)
Grey (Unknown)
Hence defined by source
Value neutral
Democratic values of propaganda
From combat propaganda to strategic PSYOPs: From combat propaganda to strategic PSYOPs Soldier-to-soldier communication
Total War and the importance of civilian morale/support
The Cold War as ‘a war of ideologies’
Operations other than war in the 1990s
Soldier-to-civilian communication
Terrorism: a war against an idea/concept
World War One: World War One ‘The thing is to kill Germans’
‘The defilement of the human soul is worse than killing’
Not over by Xmas 1914: new weapons needed
Crewe House and ‘munitions of the mind’ against Austria-Hungary and Germany
WW1: consequences: WW1: consequences The importance of public opinion and the advent of public diplomacy
The arrival of new communications technologies
Policy and Propaganda synergy and the tragedy of Versailles
The arrival of new, aggressive, ideologically motivated regimes in Russia, Italy, Japan and Germany.
World War Two: Total War, Total Propaganda: World War Two: Total War, Total Propaganda First RAF raid of the war was with leaflets! (‘bullshit bombs’)
Media access to the battlefield
Ministry of Information and Political Warfare Executive
Psychological Warfare Division of SHAEF
Deception and Operation Fortitude
WW2: consequences: WW2: consequences The ‘Strategy of Truth’
The importance of credibility (and hence of the BBC – but to how to get heard?)
Policy and Propaganda synergy and the tragedy of ‘Unconditional Surrender’
The Ultra Secret vs. Political Warfare Executive (joint military-civilian)
The Cold War: The Cold War Back into the shadows (KGB vs. CIA)
Into the strategic domain (USIA, British Council etc)
Low Intensity Conflicts
High-fidelity battles (e.g. space race, Olympic Games)
The Great Communicator & ‘Star Wars’
Vietnam and its antidotes: Vietnam and its antidotes ‘The Uncensored War’, ‘The first television war’
Decline of psyops
The Falklands Factor
The Gulf War of 1991 as catalyst
The Revolution in Military Affairs
The Gulf War as catalyst: The Gulf War as catalyst US-led ‘Burning Hawk’
29 million leaflets for Iraqis in KTO
4 POG and 193rd PNG deployment of leaflets, radio, loudspeakers and Commando Solo
44% of Iraqi army deserted (60-80,000)
The changing role of the military in the 1990s: The changing role of the military in the 1990s OOTWs in N. Iraq, Somalia, Bosnia, Haiti, Kosovo 1999
New types of deployments, new skills required
Revolution in Communications technologies
Democracies and non-democracies
Kosovo: WWW1: Kosovo: WWW1 Gulf War 2 without the ground war
The arrival of the Internet and the mobile phone
Asymmetrical warfare and the importance of propaganda (‘SOFTWAR’)
Information Warfare and 103 million leaflets
Slide16: THE IMPORTANCE OF INFORMATION TO THE MILITARY Information In Warfare Information Warfare Intelligence
Surveillance
Reconnaissance
Weather
Geographic
Other
Influence Attitudes
Deny / Protect
Deceive
Exploit / Attack
Slide17: Information Warfare Influence Attitudes
‘Perception
Management’ Public Diplomacy
Private Diplomacy
PSYOPS
Media Relations
(PA/PI)
Education (‘soft power’)
Counter Influence/
Propaganda
Deny/Protect
OPSEC
Information
Assurance
Counter-
Intelligence
Computer
Network
Defence Deceive
Spoofing
Deception
Imitation
Distortion Exploit/Attack
Ballistic
Electronic
Warfare
Computer
Network
Attack
EMP
Perception Management and the ‘war’ on terrorism: Perception Management and the ‘war’ on terrorism PSYOPs deployed in Afghanistan
Al Jazeera as the ‘new Baghdad loophole’
Coalition information centres in London, Washington and Islamabad
‘we are losing the war of words’ - is this a failure of strategic information policy?
Co-ordinate across the spectrum of communications, from the tactical to the strategic, and back again
Weapons of Mass Communications – my questions: Weapons of Mass Communications – my questions Communications and information are to the 21st century what oil and coal were to the 20th
is the ‘thing’ to kill terrorism?
How to deter future terrorists?
In for the long haul
How long can the public stand for it?
Any questions from you?: Any questions from you?