ABSTRACT

The psychological dimension of the Soviet threat to the United States has been stressed with increasing vigor of late in both government and in academic circles. Military psychological operations are an important component of the potential US weapons system. This chapter addresses the state of US military psychological operations capabilities and the role that these capabilities play in national strategy. There have been several hallmarks characterizing the Reagan administration's approach to "public diplomacy", a term generally embracing a broad range of informational and cultural activities. More frequent meetings of the Senior Planning Group would encourage greater involvement by senior policy officials in public diplomacy matters. An interagency National Psychological Operations Committee should be established as an integral part of the current National Security Decision Directive (NSDD)-77 mechansim. The National psychological operations committee would provide the offensive component of the NSDD 77 mechanism, focusing its attention primarily on hostile foreign audiences.