ABSTRACT
The Department of Defense Strategic Communication Science and Technology Plan states, for instance, that ‘a compelling argument can be made that the public perceptions and implications of military operations might increasingly outweigh the tangible benefits actually achieved from real combat on the battlefield.’ From the UK perspective, the assessment is that ‘what is needed is a strategic communications mindset or culture, integral to every department of state and at every level of national policy and strategy’. The second obstacle to the realization of strategic communication is a lack of understanding of media effects, particularly the tendency to assume that the mere existence of propaganda material equals consumption by audiences and influence on them. Strategic communication requires a different understanding of communication than the shooting of messages at targets. To the contrary, the unrealistic expectations about the role of communication and technology in addressing the pressing issues of our time are obfuscating the understanding of the very roots of these problems.
