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Air University – Cyberspace and Information Operations Study Center 

Interagency Working Group (IWAG) on U.S. Government-Sponsored International Exchanges and Training

The Interagency Working Group (IAWG) on U.S. Government-Sponsored International Exchanges and Training was created in 1997 to make recommendations to the President for improving the coordination, efficiency, and effectiveness of United States Government-sponsored international exchanges and training.

Specifically, the IAWG is tasked to:

  • establish a clearinghouse to improve data collection and analysis of international exchanges and training;
  • promote greater understanding of and cooperation on common issues and challenges faced in conducting international exchanges and training programs;
  • identify administrative and programmatic duplication and overlap of activities by the various United States Government agencies involved in government-sponsored international exchanges and training programs;
  • develop a coordinated strategy for all government-sponsored international exchanges and training programs;
  • develop recommendations on performance measures for all United States Government-sponsored international exchanges and training programs;
  • develop strategies for expanding public and private partnerships in, and leveraging private sector support for, United States Government-sponsored international exchanges and training activities.

The IAWG is currently comprised of members from over 25 Federal departments and agencies.

The IAWG is mandated by Executive Order 13055 and Public Law 105-277, Division G, Section 2414.

IAWG Reports

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USC Center on Public Diplomacy

The USC Center on Public Diplomacy seeks to advance and enrich the study and practice of public diplomacy through its research and publication programs, professional training and public events.

  • PDiN Monitor is CPD’s electronic publication highlighting significant public diplomacy news aggregated by the Center’s PDiN Research team, as well as original analysis from CPD staff, fellows, visiting scholars and guest contributors.

COMOPS Journal

COMOPS is a journal of the Consortium for Strategic Communication (CSC) that provides nonpartisan commentary on current issues in terrorism/counter-terrorism, public diplomacy, and security from a human communication perspective. Each post outlines a current issue of interest and analyses the issue using principles from rhetoric, persuasion, and organizational, political, and intercultural communication. New entries are posted every week. Authors are faculty and graduate students of the CSC and their invited guests.

American Diplomacy

American Diplomacy is an electronic journal of commentary and analysis on international issues, available free to all users of the world wide web.  It is published in cooperation of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and with the encouragement and advice of the Triangle Institute for Security Studies and the UNC Curriculum for Peace, War, and Defense.

To Inform is to Influence

This blog shares experiences, research and informed opinions on Information Operations, Strategic Communication, Public Diplomacy, Inform and Influence Activities, Influence Engagement, marketing, advertising, social media, electronic warfare, deception, operational security, cyber and computer network operations, including attack, exploit and defend.  Its author, Mr. Joel Harding, is an adviser and consultant for information operations, strategic communication and cyberwarfare.

Helledale.com

Helledale.com is a source for public diplomacy news and information.

International Center for Journalists

The International Center for Journalists, a non-profit, professional organization, promotes quality journalism worldwide in the belief that independent, vigorous media are crucial in improving the human condition.

Its website offers extensive resources for journalists and television broadcasters.

How-to Books on Strategic Communication:

  • STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION PLANNING, by Dave Fleet
  • STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION: A PRIMER , by Cdr A.A. Tatham MPhil RN, Defence Academy of the UK, Dec. 2008
  • COMMANDER’S HANDBOOK FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION AND COMMUNICATION STRATEGY, Version 3.0 Joint Forces Command, Warfighting Center, June 24, 2010
  • INFORMATION OPERATIONS PRIMER: Fundamentals of Information Operations, U.S. Army War College, Nov. 2010.
  • GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS: Assessing Whole of Government Approaches to Fragile States, by Steward Patrick & Kaysie Brown, International Peace Academy, 2007
  • STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION: Origin, Concepts, and Debates by Christopher Paul
  • Information Operations: The Hard Reality of Soft Power 
  • U.S. Military Information Operations in Afghanistan: Effectiveness of Psychological Operations 2001-2010.  By Arturo Munoz, RAND Corporation.  The U.S. Marine Corps, which has long recognized the importance of influencing the civilian population in a counterinsurgency environment, requested an evaluation of the effectiveness of the psychological operations (PSYOP) element of U.S. military information operations in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2010 based on how well messages and themes were tailored to target audiences. This monograph responds to that request. It summarizes the diverse PSYOP initiatives undertaken, evaluates their effectiveness, identifies strengths and weaknesses, and describes the way forward, including making certain specific recommendations for improvements. Special attention is paid to how well PSYOP initiatives were tailored to target audiences, primarily the Pashtuns who are the dominant population in the conflictive areas and the main support of the Taliban insurgency. It contains reports of specific operations that were successful in achieving objectives, as well as examples of operations that did not resonate with target audiences and even some that had counterproductive effects. The biggest PSYOP successes were in face-to-face communication and the emphasis on meetings with jirgas (local councils of elders), key-leader engagements, and establishing individual relationships with members of the Afghan media. In addition, the concept of every infantryman as a PSYOP officer proved very effective. The most notable shortcoming was the inability to sufficiently counter the Taliban propaganda campaign against U.S. and coalition forces on the theme of civilian casualties, both domestically and internationally.

 

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