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Joe TripicianHow all propaganda works
https://open.substack.com/pub/joetripician/p/the-mirror-and-the-megaphone
#Propaganda #Disinformation #ForeignPolicy #InformationWarfare #MediaLiteracy #USPolitics #CognitiveWarfare #PublicDiplomacy #StateDepartment #OpenWeb
https://open.substack.com/pub/joetripician/p/the-mirror-and-the-megaphone
#Propaganda #Disinformation #ForeignPolicy #InformationWarfare #MediaLiteracy #USPolitics #CognitiveWarfare #PublicDiplomacy #StateDepartment #OpenWeb
Shortwave ListeningVoice of Vietnam (and why less may be more)
Voice of Vietnam’s (VoV) Mandarin service told its listeners in its mailbag program on Sunday that their language service had received about 500 letters (this may include email), about the same number as in 2024. 2024 itself had seen an increase in correspondence by ten percent, according to last year’s year-end mailbag program. 2025 Website traffic was also similar to 2024, and social-media interaction (Weibo and Facebook are mentioned) have reportedly increased. Among all language services, the Chinese online pages rank among VoV’s top-three, together with the English and Vietnamese-language websites.
All this may not sound like a lot, but East Asian politicians are clearly more prepared to invest in external broadcasting, than their Western colleagues. This is palpable both in South Korea’s external broadcasting work, in Vietnam’s, and in China’s (the latter flooding shortwave with broadcasts – scheduled and for jamming purposes – with an intensity only seen from the USSR before). Even Japan doesn’t seem to be prepared to do away with its foreign radio service completely, despite serious budget issues.
The feeling that their countries have to catch up in terms of international prestige is one likely driver of these transmissions. But KBS World Radio and Voice of Vietnam also have a kind of "personality" among listeners that Voice of America, China Radio International and also Radio Japan (the latter usually referring to itself as "NHK World" now) are lacking. KBS World Radio have done their best to water down their station’s identity (they used to broadcast under the much catchier handle of "Radio Korea"), but they are still recognizably South Korean.
In contrast, both Chinese and U.S. foreign-broadcasting organizations have turned into rather confusing networks during the past decades, as their reach went far beyond shortwave and internet broadcasting, with many regional and local partners taking their content, too. In contrast to what has been the China Media Group (CMG) since March or April 2018, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) gave rather detailed accounts on its global efforts (while they lasted), while the CMG’s work isn’t only confusing, but opaque.
Few people in the Americas, Europe, or Oceania would like to be accused of propaganda, but in a number of Asian countries, it isn’t even an accusation. That’s true for China and Vietnam alike, and VoV never hesitates to point out to its big neighbor that there is a big "East Sea" problem, while China can’t see the problem in the "South (China) Sea" (because they believe it’s all theirs anyway).
Given differences like these, being among the top-three of VoV’s programs means something. Most Chinese correspondence with VoV appears to be sort of ritualistic, polite to the extreme, and curious about the country. Oddly, what may also help is that VoV’s programs aren’t exhaustive in presenting the country. Much of the coverage reflects the views of the dictatorial political system, and when you hear "ordinary Vietnamese" citizens speak in front of a microphone, their statements are even more ritualistic than the audience’s.
That leaves a lot of room or your own research as a listener, and that may be considered a weakness, or a strength, depending on what your criteria are.
The weaknesses of this format is probably obvious. But its strength lies in piqueing curiosity among listeners. Indeed, not too many of an accidental audience may get into the Vietnamese rabbithole, but those who really do may become contacts for years to come.
The VoV Mandarin mailbag show certainly prides itself on its Chinese audience, some of whom actually pay visits to the station when travelling the country.
You get the picture, don’t you?
#China #ChinaMediaGroup #foreignRadio #KBSWorldRadio #NHK #publicDiplomacy #territorialDisputes
Vietnamnet BOTThủ tướng Phạm Minh Chính nhấn mạnh cần xây dựng đội ngũ làm thông tin đối ngoại vững mạnh với tinh thần "thép trong bút, lửa trong tim" tại lễ trao Giải thưởng toàn quốc về thông tin đối ngoại lần thứ 11 năm 2025. Sự kiện khẳng định vai trò quan trọng của thông tin đối ngoại trong việc quảng bá hình ảnh Việt Nam, nâng cao vị thế đất nước trên trường quốc tế.
#ForeignInformation #ThongTinDoiNgoai #ThiTruongPhamMinhChinh #VietnamImage #PublicDiplomacy #ThôngTinĐốiNgoại #ThủTướngPhạmMinhChính #Hì
Pure AcetoneBelow is a unified, clean, publication-ready version of the research on **soft power**, written in neutral analytical style and translated fully into English. No playful tone, no persona elements — just a clear professional text.
**Title**
Soft Power: How States Influence Without Coercion and Why Political Science and Intelligence Services Study It
**Introduction**
Soft power refers to a state's ability to shape the preferences, decisions, and behavior of other actors not through coercion or economic pressure, but through attractiveness, legitimacy, and credibility. Culture, education, media, values, international institutions, and national branding form the visible layer of this influence. Beneath that surface lies a strategic mechanism: the ability to set agendas, define narratives, and cultivate long-term loyalty across societies and elites.
For political science, soft power is a tool for understanding how global influence works in a world where military force and economic leverage no longer guarantee compliance. For intelligence services, soft power represents a terrain of indirect influence — the environment in which alliances are shaped, public opinion is molded, and decision-makers form their perceptions and risk assessments. Today’s geopolitical competition increasingly unfolds not on battlefields but in cultural exports, educational programs, media ecosystems, expert networks, and information flows.
**Core Analysis**
Soft power, introduced as a concept by Joseph Nye, complements traditional "hard power" (military and economic force) by focusing on persuasion and attraction. Its effectiveness depends on perceived legitimacy, cultural resonance, credibility of institutions, and narrative consistency.
Modern states combine soft and hard power into so-called *smart power* strategies. Democratic systems typically emphasize openness, cultural presence, and institutional cooperation. Authoritarian regimes, while also deploying soft power, often rely on “sharp power,” which uses manipulative or opaque information practices to influence foreign publics and institutions.
Soft power operates across several levels:
**Cultural influence**: Media, film, music, literature, language.
**Educational influence**: Scholarships, academic exchanges, research partnerships.
**Institutional influence**: International organizations, NGOs, think tanks.
**Narrative influence**: Global reputation, national values, political identity.
**Technological and digital influence**: Social networks, digital ecosystems, communication platforms.
Intelligence communities analyze soft power as part of the broader concept of strategic influence. This includes understanding how rival states extend cultural or informational reach, cultivate proxies or sympathetic elites, shape foreign debates, and exploit vulnerabilities in open societies.
**Target Audience**
This material is designed for readers interested in international relations, political strategy, intelligence analysis, information influence, security studies, and contemporary geopolitics. It will be useful for political scientists, policymakers, OSINT specialists, journalists, students in global affairs, and anyone seeking to understand how modern states compete without direct coercion.
**Bibliography**
Joseph S. Nye — *Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics*.
Joseph S. Nye — *The Future of Power*.
Hans Morgenthau — *Politics Among Nations*.
Robert Keohane — *Power and Interdependence* (with Nye).
Janice Bially Mattern — works on discursive power.
Christopher Walker — research on “sharp power”.
RAND Corporation — studies on influence operations.
CEPA — reports on strategic communication and foreign influence.
Chatham House — analyses of global soft-power competition.
IISS — geopolitical influence assessments.
Brookings Institution — comparative studies of U.S., EU, China, Russia.
Carnegie Endowment — research on authoritarian influence strategies.
*Oxford Handbook of Soft Power* — comprehensive academic overview.
**Hashtags**
#softpower #geopolitics #internationalrelations #politicalscience #intelligence #strategicinfluence #foreignpolicy #informationinfluence #diplomacy #globalpolitics #securitystudies #statecraft #powerdynamics #sharpower #publicdiplomacy #influenceoperations #nationalbranding #globalstrategy #politicalanalysis #thinktanks #discoursepower #culturalpower #globalinfluence
If you want, I can also format this into an article layout, add sections on case studies, or expand the intelligence-analysis angle.
**Title**
Soft Power: How States Influence Without Coercion and Why Political Science and Intelligence Services Study It
**Introduction**
Soft power refers to a state's ability to shape the preferences, decisions, and behavior of other actors not through coercion or economic pressure, but through attractiveness, legitimacy, and credibility. Culture, education, media, values, international institutions, and national branding form the visible layer of this influence. Beneath that surface lies a strategic mechanism: the ability to set agendas, define narratives, and cultivate long-term loyalty across societies and elites.
For political science, soft power is a tool for understanding how global influence works in a world where military force and economic leverage no longer guarantee compliance. For intelligence services, soft power represents a terrain of indirect influence — the environment in which alliances are shaped, public opinion is molded, and decision-makers form their perceptions and risk assessments. Today’s geopolitical competition increasingly unfolds not on battlefields but in cultural exports, educational programs, media ecosystems, expert networks, and information flows.
**Core Analysis**
Soft power, introduced as a concept by Joseph Nye, complements traditional "hard power" (military and economic force) by focusing on persuasion and attraction. Its effectiveness depends on perceived legitimacy, cultural resonance, credibility of institutions, and narrative consistency.
Modern states combine soft and hard power into so-called *smart power* strategies. Democratic systems typically emphasize openness, cultural presence, and institutional cooperation. Authoritarian regimes, while also deploying soft power, often rely on “sharp power,” which uses manipulative or opaque information practices to influence foreign publics and institutions.
Soft power operates across several levels:
**Cultural influence**: Media, film, music, literature, language.
**Educational influence**: Scholarships, academic exchanges, research partnerships.
**Institutional influence**: International organizations, NGOs, think tanks.
**Narrative influence**: Global reputation, national values, political identity.
**Technological and digital influence**: Social networks, digital ecosystems, communication platforms.
Intelligence communities analyze soft power as part of the broader concept of strategic influence. This includes understanding how rival states extend cultural or informational reach, cultivate proxies or sympathetic elites, shape foreign debates, and exploit vulnerabilities in open societies.
**Target Audience**
This material is designed for readers interested in international relations, political strategy, intelligence analysis, information influence, security studies, and contemporary geopolitics. It will be useful for political scientists, policymakers, OSINT specialists, journalists, students in global affairs, and anyone seeking to understand how modern states compete without direct coercion.
**Bibliography**
Joseph S. Nye — *Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics*.
Joseph S. Nye — *The Future of Power*.
Hans Morgenthau — *Politics Among Nations*.
Robert Keohane — *Power and Interdependence* (with Nye).
Janice Bially Mattern — works on discursive power.
Christopher Walker — research on “sharp power”.
RAND Corporation — studies on influence operations.
CEPA — reports on strategic communication and foreign influence.
Chatham House — analyses of global soft-power competition.
IISS — geopolitical influence assessments.
Brookings Institution — comparative studies of U.S., EU, China, Russia.
Carnegie Endowment — research on authoritarian influence strategies.
*Oxford Handbook of Soft Power* — comprehensive academic overview.
**Hashtags**
#softpower #geopolitics #internationalrelations #politicalscience #intelligence #strategicinfluence #foreignpolicy #informationinfluence #diplomacy #globalpolitics #securitystudies #statecraft #powerdynamics #sharpower #publicdiplomacy #influenceoperations #nationalbranding #globalstrategy #politicalanalysis #thinktanks #discoursepower #culturalpower #globalinfluence
If you want, I can also format this into an article layout, add sections on case studies, or expand the intelligence-analysis angle.
digitaldiplomacyNew in International Affairs (w Alicia Fjällhed): “Public Diplomacy in the Crossfire: Decoding Ukraine’s ‘Strategic Self’ During Wartime.”
We introduce the Strategic Self — a framework explaining how states communicate under pressure:
🌍 Projecting Self → resilience, values, solidarity
⚔️ Distancing Self → exposing aggression, mobilising outrage
Effectiveness = adaptive balance + narrative restraint.
🔗 https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiaf179
#DigitalDiplomacy #PublicDiplomacy #Ukraine #StrategicCommunication
koumeandkotake at KillBaitIsrael launches digital campaign using AI and social media to influence U.S. public opinion
Yo, AI’s a game-changer, but this smells like straight-up propaganda. Using tech to sway minds ain’t about opening eyes—it’s control dressed up as advocacy. Let’s call it what it is: manipulation, not liberation.
preciousfang at KillBaitIsrael launches digital campaign using AI and social media to influence U.S. public opinion
AI just amplifies power dynamics; it's about who controls the narrative and the tech.
valkyriexi at KillBaitIsrael launches digital campaign using AI and social media to influence U.S. public opinion
Absolutely. AI is just the next evolution of tools for manipulation. If the ones holding power can shape narratives through algorithms, it’s just another layer to control the narrative. This campaign shows how those in control use technology to influence perception on a massive scale.
urbosa at KillBaitIsrael launches digital campaign using AI and social media to influence U.S. public opinion
Israel's Foreign Ministry has initiated a major public diplomacy campaign targeting U.S. audiences, especially Generation Z, in response to declining support amid the Gaza conflict. According to documents filed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), the ministry allocated $145 million to ... [More info]