Recent Publications

“Information Warfare: Lessons in Inoculation to Disinformation”
May 23, 2022 — While propaganda and disinformation have been used to destabilize opposing forces throughout history, the US military remains unprepared for the way these methods have been adapted to the Internet era. This article explores the modern history of disinformation campaigns and the current state of US military readiness in the face of campaigns from near-peer competitors and proposes education as the best way to prepare US servicemembers to defend against such campaigns. ... MORE

“Enduring Information Vigilance - Government after COVID-19”
September 14, 2020 — The framework of Enduring Information Vigilance will help ally and partner governments deny advantages adversaries gain through their use of information operations in our new global perpetual information environment. This approach recognizes the persistent threat, unifies responses within and between governments, and resolves societal fissures... MORE

Social Media—The Vital Ground: Can We Hold It?
April 21, 2017 — Authors: Dr Steve Tatham, Mr. Ian TunnicliffeView the Executive Summary The impact of social media on the media environment has been widely recognized; as has the ability of extremist and adversarial organizations to exploit social media to publicize their cause, spread their propaganda, and recruit vulnerable individuals. Supporting the growth of... MORE

Antiquities Destruction and Illicit Sales as Sources of ISIS Funding and Propaganda
April 3, 2017 — Author: Dr W Andrew TerrillView the Executive Summary The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has embarked on a campaign to destroy or sell priceless world heritage relics throughout the area under its control. While images of the outrageous destruction of priceless artifacts have been seen throughout the world, the strategic and military... MORE

Turning It Up to Eleven: Belligerent Rhetoric in North Korea’s Propaganda
January 1, 2017 — Author: Dr Mason Richey After contextualizing North Korea’s capacity for belligerent rhetoric directed toward the United States and its northeast Asian allies, the author examines the contention that rhetoric from Pyongyang represents a conflict escalation risk or even a casus belli. The results of statistical tests indicate a negative correlation... MORE

Parameters VOL. 46 NO. 4 WINTER 2016-17
December 1, 2016 — Editor: Dr Antulio J Echevarria IISpecial Commentary: The Army's Identity Crisis by Gates Brown. Toward Strategic Solvency Ensuring Effective Military Voice, by William E. Rapp. The Crisis of American Military Primacy and the Search for Strategic Solvency, by Hal Brands and Eric Edelman. Are Our Strategic Models Flawed? Faith in War: The American... MORE

Cover for Parameters VOL. 46 NO. 4 WINTER 2016-17

Using Target Audience Analysis to Aid Strategic Level Decisionmaking
August 25, 2015 — Author: Dr Steve TathamView the Executive Summary The author explains how sophisticated social science research and behavioral profiling can be used to warn us of impeding issues and how that information might be used by senior strategy makers as a tool for testing and refining strategy. He makes a compelling case that the science of Target... MORE

Joining the New Caravan: ISIS and the Regeneration of Terrorism in Southeast Asia
June 25, 2015 — Dr. Zachary AbuzaIntroduction.Since early-2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has made gradual inroads into Southeast Asia. There are an estimated 500 Southeast Asians, not including family and kin, in Iraq and Syria fighting for ISIS, as well as al-Nusra, which at first attracted far more Southeast Asians. Since August 2014, there has... MORE

Colloquium Brief: Visual Propaganda and Online Radicalization
July 2, 2012 — Key Insights: Visual images have real power that is separate from the words with which they appear and need to be studied distinctly from those words, using methods developed specifically for dealing with images. The study of visual images is especially important in the online environment, where most terrorist and extremist groups of concern to the U.S. produce a great deal of material that is primarily visual in nature... MORE

The Impact of Visual Images: Addendum
March 6, 2012 — Dr. Cori E. Dauber In briefings and presentations to military audiences over the last several years, I have offered one simple piece of advice: film everything. In a digital age, data storage is cheap. What is expensive is not being able to prove that propaganda claims about a particular mission, perhaps made months or years after the fact, distort... MORE

Afghanistan: Reconstituting a Collapsed State
April 1, 2005 — Author: LTC Raymond A Millen LTC Raymond A. Millen examines warlordism as the principal impediment to Afghanistan's revival and offers a shift in strategy that addresses the war of ideas, the counternarcotics initiative, and the incorporation of the Afghan National Army into the provincial reconstruction teams. As Lieutenant Colonel Millen... MORE