Waging CommunicationWar

Abstract

The classics of counterinsurgency and guerrilla writing evoke nostalgia for a world of flickering projectors and rough propaganda sheets rolling off inky jungle presses.3 The world, however, has moved on apace since this first wave of counter insurgencywriting.The rapid evolution of irregularwarfare and the modern media have together transformed the process of waging war, leaving the western military and civil institutional structures lagging behind. Afew studies go further, notably a recent RAND report, Enlisting Madison Avenue, which suggests that the US military should learn from the marketing industry, particularly its concepts of branding and audience segmentation.7 There are indeed some similarities between marketing and communication in irregular warfare, and RAND's study is worth close reading.