Seizing the Strategic Communication Initiative

The United States military has conducted counterinsurgency campaigns against violent Islamic extremists for the last eight years and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. However, communication-minded, technology-savvy, insurgencies have generally outperformed the military in strategic communication. The U.S. military generally conducts strategic communication in counterinsurgency operations from a culture of reticence that ensures that communication and information operations are ineffective and reactive in nature. Counterinsurgent forces should adopt a culture of engagement in order to seize the strategic communication initiative from the insurgent and increase operational effectiveness. Colombia provides a clear example of a counterinsurgent that has seized the strategic communication initiative from the FARC by successfully adopting a culture of engagement that is proactive, leader-driven, innovative, adaptive, and sustainable. Despite making significant progress in recent years in adapting to the operational environment and moving towards a culture of engagement, these changes are not yet holistic and have not allowed the military to seize the initiative in strategic communication.