Some Trends in International Propaganda

Abstract

J udging from past trends and present indica tions, international propaganda in the next decades will be ever more pervasive, propaganda organizations will be more complex (and expensive), and news channels will be more widely utilized for propaganda. Ingenuity in the use of channels, techniques, and personnel has kept steady pace with the technological ad vances of the times. No resources have been spared in times of war, nor when the ambitions of a ruler or of a state have called for an all-out effort to win a political, a psychological, or an economic victory.

Whether basic propaganda aims and tactics will change is doubtful, although one can hope that they will. The trend appears to be toward a greater emphasis on public and private commercial efforts, which are increasing rapidly.