The Offence of Strategic Influence: Making the Case for Perception Management Operations
ABSTRACT
In the ongoing ‘War against Terrorism’, it is absolutely vital that the Perception
Management campaign of the United States and its allies be coordinated at the highest possible level, resourced adequately and executed effectively. With the demise of the Office of Strategic Influence within the Pentagon, there is currently no central focus for, or high- level coordination of, Perception Management operations. The individuals tasked with undertaking this activity also lack the necessary skills required to formulate target- appropriate messages and the means needed to deliver such messages to their intended audience.
It is therefore vital that a new centrally-controlled Office of Strategic Influence be established, and that it should not answer to an individual department of state. Central funding and re-allocated departmental funding are also essential to ensure that practitioners of this art have the right mix of knowledge, skills and tools to craft, produce and deliver a precise message to the proper audience. Only then can we be sure that we have the capabilities needed to convince others to ‘want what we want’, which is for them to withdraw their explicit or tacit support from our adversaries, thereby removing the ‘oxygen’ these individuals must have to survive and prosper.
AUTHORS
Director of the International Centre for Strategic Analysis, King’s College
London,
Andrew J. Garfield is Director of the International Centre for Strategic Analysis at King’s College, London, from which position he lectures and consults widely on international security issues in the United Kingdom and North America. He previously served as a Senior Intelligence Officer with the UK Ministry of Defence, currently serving as a Policy Advisor in the Directorate of Policy Planning. For eleven years, he was a member of the British Army Intelligence Corps serving in Germany, Northern Ireland, and Belize.
As the Defence Intelligence Staff’s principal Information Warfare Staff Officer, he conducted a major study which resulted in significant innovations in the MoD’s approach to Information Operations analytical and targeting support to operations, including creation of the Information Operations Support Group with dedicated Human Factors and National Infrastructure assessment teams. He also played a key role in the formation of a dedicated Open Source Information Centre in the MoD. He is a graduate of the British Army.
Published In
Journal of Information Warfare
The definitive publication for the best and latest research and analysis on information warfare, information operations, and cyber crime. Available in traditional hard copy or online.
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