Synopses & Reviews
In
Information War, former United States Information Agency employee Nancy Snow describes how U.S. propaganda efforts and covert operations are expanding more rapidly today than at any other time in U.S. history, as the Bush administration attempts to increase U.S. dominance by curbing dissent and controlling opinion. Consider that
- immediately after September 11, Bush administration officials met with Hollywood executives to coordinate efforts to bolster the U.S. military in films, public service announcements, and sponsored discussions on security
- John Poindexter, a convicted perjurer who supervised the illegal Iran-Contra deals, was appointed to lead the Department of Defense's new "Information Awareness Office," whose function was high-tech tapping of computer networks in the United States and abroad
- National Security Directives mandate the use of information warfare techniques to disrupt and sabotage critics of Bush's policies. This is a pattern of behavior, it is policy, and it is war an information war over the control of images, information, and ideology that shape public opinion and behavior.
In
Information War, Snow lays out the propaganda techniques that the government uses to control dissent in the twenty-first century; spotlights the key players and their spinmeistering abilities in the information war; and describes memorable "leaks" in the Administration's efforts to conduct stealth propaganda programs and control information at home. Ultimately she shows that dissent and true democracy are the early casualties of these policies.
Synopsis
In Information War, former United States Information Agency employee Nancy Snow describes how U.S. propaganda efforts and covert operations are expanding more rapidly today than at any other time in U.S. history, as the Bush administration attempts to increase U.S. dominance by curbing dissent and controlling opinion. Snow lays out the propaganda techniques that the government uses to control dissent in the twenty-first century, spotlights the key players and their spinmeistering abilities in the information war, and describes memorable "leaks" in the Administrations efforts to conduct stealth propaganda programs and control information at home. Ultimately she shows that dissent and true democracy are the early casualties of these policies.
About the Author
NANCY SNOW is an Associate Professor in the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Since 9/11, Snow has become a frequent media commentator and public speaker on American foreign policy, influence, persuasion, propaganda, and the root causes of anti-Americanism. She received her Ph.D. in international relations from the School of International Service at The American University in Washington, D.C. From 1992 to 1994, she worked as a cultural affairs specialist and Fulbright program desk officer at the United States Information Agency and as intergovernmental liaison in the Bureau of Refugee Programs, U.S. State Department. She was a Fulbright scholar to Germany and a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. Snow is also the author of many published articles in professional and mainstream publications including the Los Angeles Times and Newsday.