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This is a study of the period 1939-45, when the British government, through the Ministry of Information, disseminated propaganda among European neutrals, whose behaviour in relation to the belligerents could materially effect the outcome of the war, and could not be left to chance, or the efforts of diplomats alone. Working against Axis competition, British Foreign Office mistrust, the neutral's suspiciousness and their own frequent ineptitude, the propagandists waged a long and bitter war of wo...

In the 1930s and '40s, Japanese rulers in Manchukuo enlisted writers and artists to promote imperial Japan's modernization program. Ironically, the cultural producers chosen to spread the imperialist message were previously left-wing politically. In Glorify the Empire, Annika A. Culver explores how these once anti-imperialist intellectuals produced avant-garde works celebrating the modernity of a fascist state and reflecting a complicated picture of complicity with, and ambivalence toward, Japan...

This volume looks at the impact of the landmark 2014 elections and the consequent Assembly elections which have transformed the ideological discourse of India. It discusses a variety of topical issues in contemporary Indian politics, including the Modi wave, Aam Aadmi Party and the challenges it is confronting today, Hindutva and minorities, the decline of the Congress party, changes in foreign policy, as well as phenomenona like ‘love jihad’ and ghar wapsi. It also draws together political tren...

This is an investigation of the propaganda experiences of five of the principal belligerent nations during World War II: Britain; the USA; France; the USSR; and Germany. An extended introduction discusses the issue of propaganda in its historical and comparative perspective and this is followed by five national case studies which address particular propaganda themes as they relate to individual national experiences. Comparisons are made between national cases throughout the text. The final chapt...

This book offers a unique account of British and United States government's attempts to adapt their propaganda strategies to global terrorist threats in a post-9/11 media environment. It discusses Anglo-American coordination and domestic struggles that brought in far-reaching changes to propaganda. These changes had implications for the structures of legitimacy yet occurred largely in isolation from public debate and raise questions regarding their governance. The author argues that independent...

Fast-moving, self-perpetuating images of violence have radically changed the nature of insurgency in modern times, and the global media trafficking in these images have fundamentally transformed the act and speed of the exchange among populations. First satellite TV, then laptops and the Internet, and now cellphones and social media, new technologies have revolutionized the act of communication and have collapsed the impediments of time and distance. Rebels who hope to overthrow states and revol...

“This penetrating study asks whether the actual evidence concerning alleged Russian interference in the US elections of 2016 justifies the enormous hue and cry it has elicited … A highly instructive inquiry into our current malaise.” — Noam Chomsky Cold War, Hot War upends conventional thinking about the defining story of the Trump era—the supposed threat of Russia to American democracy —and offers revelatory insight about the U.S. political and media culture in which it arose. Drawing on his...

Engineers of the Soul draws the reader into the wild euphoria of the Russian Revolution, as art and reality are bent to radically new purposes. Writers of renown, described by Stalin as 'engineers of the soul', were encouraged to sing the praises of construction. But the initial enthusiasm of Soviet writers faltered as these colossal structures led to slavery and destruction, and they were obliged to labour on in the service of a deluded totalitarian society.Frank Westerman sweeps the reader alo...

Global movements and protests from the Arab Spring to the Occupy Movement have been attributed to growing access to social media, while without it, local causes like #bringbackourgirls and the ice bucket challenge may have otherwise remained unheard and unseen. Regardless of their nature – advocacy, activism, protest or dissent – and beyond the technological ability of digital and social media to connect support, these major events have all been the results of excellent communication and publi...