Welcoming the Ideological Struggle: Democratic Propaganda in the 1980s

• In Event: Chinese and Russian Information Warfare

Abstract

After a decade of neglect, the 1980s saw an upsurge in the Anglo-American usage of propaganda. Reagan made propaganda a national security priority, championed the modernization of broadcasting, and oversaw the empowerment of USIA and other groups to counter Soviet active measures and even deploy American active measures. Thatcher's administration saw the gradual revitalization of efforts through the successors of the disgraced and disempowered Information Research Department. What explains this shift? Applying my propaganda dilemma framework and leveraging extensive data from the Reagan Library and The National Archives in London - including new data on covert operations during the Thatcher years - this paper argues that two factors contributed to the upsurge. First, American and British policymakers were increasingly image conscious in the wake of Soviet revisionism and active measures. Second, the ideological leanings of the Reagan and Thatcher administrations made them more willing to discount many (but not all) liberal norms that prohibit propaganda. Process tracing finds less support for rival explanations - I observe that the upsurge was not merely opportunistically responding to cracks in the Soviet bloc, and that concerns over cost remained a barrier even as economic conditions improved and new technologies emerged. In contrast to naysayers who think that democracies are weaker in the battle of ideas, the 1980s case reveals that democracies can use propaganda aggressively if they are image conscious enough. A conclusion reflects on why a similar reaction is not observed against contemporary Russian and Chinese disinformation.

Author

• Justin S. Casey, Swarthmore College