Archive for 'Government'
Critics Fret About Smith-Mundt Modernization Act
by Steven R. Corman The House of Representatives has been working to amend the laws that govern the dissemination of “propaganda” materials in the U.S. What seemed like a good idea to me and others–one long overdue–is being spun by some observers as a dark effort by the DoD and State Department who want authorization [...]
Posted: May 19th, 2012 under Government, Politics, Strategic Comm..
Comments: 3
“We are All Afghans” in Iran
by Jeffry R. Halverson The Arab Spring showed the world how social media can help organize mass political dissent. In the cases of Tunisia and Egypt, single issues coalesced online into far broader and diverse campaigns that toppled ruling regimes. Recently, outside of the Arab world, discriminatory government policies in Iran against Afghans have come [...]
Posted: May 7th, 2012 under Afghanistan, Diplomacy, Government, Iran, Islam, Media, Movements, Politics, Religion.
Comments: none
Suharto Era Comops Backfire in 2012 Indonesia
by Chris Lundry Indonesian extremists continue to portray Ambonese Christians as engaged in separatist rebellion against Indonesia, and a crusade against Muslims. This isn’t true, but raises the question: where on earth did they get this idea? The adage that if a lie gets repeated enough times it becomes true is, apparently, applicable in Indonesia’s [...]
Posted: April 26th, 2012 under Analysis, Framing, Government, Indonesia, Military, Politics, Religion, Southeast Asia, Strategic Comm..
Comments: none
Islamism and Dissent vs. Identity in the Voting Booth
by Jeffry R. Halverson* “If a group of people feels that it has been humiliated and that its honor has been trampled underfoot, it will want to express its identity.” [...]
Posted: January 9th, 2012 under Analysis, Egypt, Government, Identification, Islam, Language, Muslim Brotherhood, Politics, Religion, Sharia.
Comments: 4
US PD Advisory Commission is no more
by Steven R. Corman In an apparent budget cutting move, the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy was cut from the recently passed budget, and has ceased to exist. The move eliminates an organization over 60 years old. The Commission was established under the United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 as the [...]
Posted: December 29th, 2011 under Diplomacy, Government, State Dept..
Comments: none
Putting the Islamist “win” in Tunisia in Context
by Jeffry R. Halverson Put him in power and see how wise he is. – Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms I have spent an inordinate amount of time studying Islamist ideologues and their ideas during my relatively short lifetime. I’ve never read War and Peace, but I have read Milestones and The Neglected Duty. [...]
Posted: October 31st, 2011 under Analysis, Government, Identification, Islam, Movements, Politics, Religion, Sharia.
Comments: 2
Yes, Extremists are Paying Attention
by Chris Lundry Last year, my colleagues Steven Corman, Jeffrey Halverson and I wrote a series of blog posts exploring Islamist reactions to anti-Islam and anti-Muslim events in the US, including the debate over the Park51 Islamic Center and an American pastor’s proposal to burn a Qur’an on 9/11, among others. One of the points [...]
Posted: September 26th, 2011 under Analysis, Counterterrorism, Government, Image, Intelligence, Islam, Narrative, Religion, Southeast Asia, State Dept., Strategic Comm..
Comments: 2
Seeing the Syrian Conflict through Narrative
By Jeffry R. Halverson Unlike the protests of the Arab Spring in Tunisia and Egypt, the campaigns underway against the Assad regime in Syria have a distinctly sectarian character. The Assad regime is dominated by the Alawites, a little-known esoteric Shi‘ite sect. However, the majority of Syria’s population is Sunni Muslim (approx. 75%). And caught [...]
Posted: July 27th, 2011 under Analysis, Framing, Government, Islam, Narrative, Politics, Religion, Syria.
Comments: 2
Should We Fear Muslim Brotherhood Influence in Egypt?
by Jeffry R. Halverson There are a lot of questions and speculation about the Ikhwan al-Muslimun (The Muslim Brotherhood, or MB) and their role in the future of Egypt. The coverage of the organization in the U.S. media has been better than expected. However, I am still struck by some of the more ominous rhetoric [...]
Posted: February 4th, 2011 under Egypt, Government, Islam, Muslim Brotherhood, Politics, Religion, Sharia.
Comments: 4
Indonesia as an Analogue for Egypt
by Mark Woodward More than a decade ago hundreds of thousands of Indonesians, most of them young people, came to the streets demanding the end to a dictatorial regime that had lasted for more than three decades. Today we see much the same in Egypt. We see also see the same reaction in Western media, [...]
Posted: January 31st, 2011 under Analysis, Egypt, Government, Indonesia.
Comments: none