ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book describes the development of what has come to be called "strategic communication", a catch-all term for persuasive communication on the part of military, corporate, and government organisations. It elaborates the concept of neofeudal corporatism in more detail. The book also outlines the intellectual and cultural environment into which the Creel Committee was introduced. It also outlines the technical and cultural systems within which the Committee on Public Information (CPI) operated, how it activated those systems, and how its success is best understood theoretically in order to make sense of current circumstances. The book gives an historical perspective on the propagation of the CPI's techniques. It articulates a view of current circumstances as "neofeudal corporatism". The CPI was established on April 14, 1917 by President Woodrow Wilson. Its aim was to garner public support for United States involvement in WWI.
