War of ideas The War of Ideas is a clash of opposing ideals , ideologies , or concepts through which nations or groups use strategic influence to promote their interests abroad . The “ battle space ” of this conflict is the target population ’ s " hearts and minds " , while the “ weapons ” can include , think tanks , inter alia , TV programs , newspaper articles , the internet , blogs , official government policy papers , traditional as well as public diplomacy , or radio broadcasts . Antulio J . Echevarria , Director of Research , Strategic Studies Institute , U . S . Army War College defined the " war of ideas " as . History of the concept . Richard M . Weaver published Ideas Have Consequences in 1948 by the University of Chicago Press . The book is largely a treatise on the harmful effects of nominalism on Western Civilization since this doctrine gained prominence in the High Middle Ages , followed by a prescription of a course of action through which Weaver believes the West might be rescued from its decline . Weaver attributes the beginning of the Western decline to the adoption of nominalism ( or the rejection of the notion of absolute truth ) in the late Scholastic period . In 1993 Heritage Foundation analyst James A . Phillips used the term " war of ideas " in describing the pivotal role played by the National Endowment for Democracy in the ideological battle for the protection of democracy . Phillips defended the National Endowment for Democracy as " an important weapon in the war of ideas , " against communist dictatorships in control of China , Cuba , North Korea , and Vietnam . In a Cato Institute Foreign Policy brief , it was argued that there was no longer a need for the NED because " the democratic West has won the war of ideas against its communist adversaries . " " By the 1990s the term " war of ideas " was used to polarize debates on economic systems with socialism and central planning on one end of the spectrum and free enterprise and private property on the other . " In 2008 Dr Antulio J . Echevarria , in his monograph entitled " Wars of Ideas and the War of Ideas " , " offers a brief examination of four common types of wars of ideas , and analyzes how the US , its allies and strategic partners might proceed in the war of ideas . " While he feels that a better understanding of these differences between wars of ideas can inform strategy , Echevarria " concludes that physical events , whether designed or incidental , are in some respects more important to the course and outcome of a war of ideas than the ideas themselves . " In a " New York Times Magazine " series commemorating the 10th anniversary of 9 / 11 , a round table was held bringing together Paul Berman , Scott Malcomson , James Traub , David Rieff , Ian Burama and Michael Ignatieff . Malcomson observed that , " The American reaction to being attacked on September 11 was in many ways an intellectual one . President George W . Bush tended to frame it that way : the attack was on our " values , " and the " war against terror " was a war of ideas meant to advance the idea of freedom ( Scott Malcomson . " A Decade of War . " 2011 - 09 - 11 : 38 ) . " Intellectual debates as wars of ideas . Intellectual debates spiral into wars of ideas when academic concepts of neutrality and objectivity are abandoned and issues devolve into embittered and divisive disputes . Echevarria argued ( 2008 ) that in the United States topics such as abortion , " intelligent design " and evolution are wars of ideas . When an intellectual debate devolves into a war of ideas Echarria uses Kuhn ' s controversial incommensurability thesis as a claim to relativism and therefore a defense of engagement in the war of ideas . Thomas Samuel Kuhn ( 1922 – 1996 ) who is one of the most influential twentieth century philosophers of science published " The Structure of Scientific Revolutions " ( 1962 ) one of the most cited publications , in which he developed the thesis of incommensurability thesis , where he argued that " theories from differing periods suffer from certain deep kinds of failure of comparability " In The central idea is that the development of science is driven by adherence to paradigms . If a particular paradigm cannot solve an anomaly , a crisis in science may result . An existing paradigm may be superseded by a rival paradigm . There may be no common measure for assessing the competing scientific theories . They are ' incommensurable ' . A common misinterpretation of paradigms is the belief that the discovery of paradigm shift s and the dynamic nature of science ( with its many opportunities for subjective judgments by scientists ) are a case for relativism : the view that all kinds of belief systems are equal . Kuhn vehemently denies this interpretation and states that when a scientific paradigm is replaced by a new one , albeit through a complex social process , the new one is " always better " , not just different . These claims of relativism are , however , tied to another claim that Kuhn does at least somewhat endorse : that the language and theories of different paradigms cannot be translated into one another or rationally evaluated against one another — that they are " incommensurable " . This gave rise to much talk of different peoples and cultures having radically different worldviews or conceptual schemes — so different that whether or not one was better , they could not be understood by one another . However , the philosopher Donald Davidson published a highly regarded essay in 1974 , " On the Very Idea of a Conceptual Scheme " ( " Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association " , Vol . 47 , ( 1973 - 1974 ) , pp . 5 – 20 ) arguing that the notion that any languages or theories could be incommensurable with one another was itself incoherent . If this is correct , Kuhn ' s claims must be taken in a weaker sense than they often are . Furthermore , the hold of the Kuhnian analysis on social science has long been tenuous with the wide application of multi - paradigmatic approaches in order to understand complex human behaviour ( see for example John Hassard , " Sociology and Organization Theory : Positivism , Paradigm and Postmodernity " . Cambridge University Press , 1993 , ISBN 0521350344 . ) In American politics . According to political scientist Andrew Rich , author of author of " Think Tanks , Public Policy , and the Politics of Expertise " The " war of ideas " is " fundamentally a battle between liberals and conservatives , progressives and libertarians , over the appropriate role for government . " Thomas E . Mann and Norm Ornstein claim that the dysfunctionality of American politics is worse than it has ever been . " The partisan and ideological polarization from which we now suffer comes at a time when critical problems cry out for resolution , making for a particularly toxic mix . " T Bruce Thornton of the Hoover Institute argues that polarization is good for democracy and that " bipartisan compromise is deeply over - rated . " Darrell West , the vice president and director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution claims that we are living in " parallel political universes seemingly unable to comprehend or deal with each other . " " Compromise has become a dirty word among many news reporters , voters , and advocacy organizations , and this limits leaders ’ capacity to address important policy problems . " This makes it difficult for leaders to " lead and govern effectively " . Those outside of government , such as " individuals , advocacy groups , businesses , and the news media " must recognize how " their own behaviors hinder leadership and make it difficult for elected and administrative officials to bargain and negotiate . " Policy - making today is " plagued by extreme partisan polarization " . News coverage does not inform civic discussions . There is a lack of political civility . Political practices discourage compromise , bargaining , and negotiation . In Canadian politics . Tom Flanagan observed that Calgary School political science professors , Barry Cooper , Ted Morton , Rainer Knopff and history professor David Bercuson and their students Stephen Harper , Ezra Levant played an ' honourable part " in helping conservatives win " the war of ideas " in Canada . In international affairs . There are two principal schools of thought on how to approach the war of ideas . The first approach advocates treating the conflict as a matter best addressed through public diplomacy — defined as the conveyance of information across a broad spectrum to include cultural affairs and political action . Accordingly , this view calls for revitalizing or transforming the U . S . Department of State and many of the traditional tools of statecraft . This school of thought contends that American public diplomacy declined after the Cold War , as evidenced by the demise of the U . S . Information Agency in 1999 , and the reduction or elimination of strategic communications programs such as “ Voice of America , ” and Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty . The remedy , then , according to this view , is to re - engage the world , especially the Arab - Muslim world , by revitalizing both the form and content of U . S . public diplomacy and strategic communications , and by reinforcing those communications with concrete programs that invest in people , create opportunities for positive exchanges , and help build friendships . In fact , Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty , and its Iraqi component , Radio Free Iraq , and Al - Hurra TV are now actively participating in U . S . strategic communication efforts , though with debatable effectiveness ; all this has occurred , in part , by taking resources from Voice of America . In direct contrast , the second school of thought advocates treating the war of ideas as a “ real war , ” wherein the objective is to destroy the influence and credibility of the opposing ideology , to include neutralizing its chief proponents . This approach sees public diplomacy as an essential , but insufficient tool because it requires too much time to achieve desired results , and does little to aid the immediate efforts of combat forces in the field . For this school of thought , the principal focus of the war of ideas ought to be how to use the ways and means of information warfare to eliminate terrorist groups . Use during the Cold War . According to Dr . John Lenczowski , former Director of European and Soviet Affairs for the National Security Council during the Reagan administration , ‘ The Cold War took many forms , including proxy wars , the arms race , nuclear blackmail , economic warfare , subversion , covert operations and the battle for men ' s minds . While many of these forms had the trappings of traditional conflicts of national interests , there was a dimension to the Cold War that made it unique among wars : it centered around a war of ideas — a war between two alternative political philosophies . " During the Cold War , the United States and other Western powers developed a robust infrastructure for waging a ‘ ‘ war of ideas ’ ’ against the communist ideology being promulgated by the Soviet Union and its allies . During the Truman and Eisenhower administrations , the so - called golden age of U . S . propaganda , counterpropaganda , and public diplomacy operations , the U . S . government carried out a sophisticated program of overt and covert activities designed to shape public opinion behind the Iron Curtain , within European intellectual and cultural circles , and across the developing world . The United States was able to reach as much as 50 – 70 % of the populations behind the Iron Curtain during the 1950s through their international broadcasting . High - level interest in such operations waned during the 1970s , but received renewed emphasis under President Ronald Reagan , the ‘ ‘ Great Communicator , ’ ’ who , like Eisenhower , was a firm advocate of the informational component of America ’ s Cold War strategy . However , with the end of the Cold War official interest once again plummeted . During the 1990s , Congress and the executive branch disparaged informational activities as costly Cold War anachronisms . The budget for State Department informational programs was slashed , and USIA , a quasi - independent body that reported to the secretary of state , was disestablished , and its responsibilities were transferred to a new undersecretary of state for public diplomacy . Use in the War on Terror . Terrorism is a form of political and psychological warfare ; it is protracted , high - intensity propaganda , aimed more at the hearts of the public and the minds of decision makers , and not at the physical victims . There is growing recognition among U . S . government officials , journalists , and analysts of terrorism that defeating al - Qaida — arguably the preeminent challenge to U . S . security — will require far more than ‘ ‘ neutralizing ’ ’ leaders , disrupting cells , and dismantling networks . The 9 / 11 Commission concluded in its final report , eliminating al - Qaida as a formidable danger ultimately requires ‘ ‘ prevailing in the longer term over the ideology that gives rise to Islamist terrorism . ” As Akbar Ahmed , a Muslim scholar who holds the Chair of Islamic Studies at American University , explains : Properly understood , this is a war of ideas within Islam — some of them faithful to authentic Islam , but some of them clearly un - Islamic and even blasphemous toward the peaceful and compassionate Allah of the Qur ' an . Americans , in general , are fundamentally opposed waging what seems as a blatantly ideological struggle seems quite unnatural to Americans and other Westerners , who tend to downplay intangible factors such as ideas , history , and culture as political motivators , preferring instead to stress relatively more concrete driving forces such as personal security and physical well - being . The United States military has recently began incorporating a strategic communication into their overall battle operations in the War on Terror , especially in Afghanistan and Iraq . In addition to the military ’ s traditional role of using force they are beginning to use political as well as ideological warfare against the enemy as a method of influencing the local populations into opposing say the Taliban or al Qa ’ ida . The ancient Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu once said that to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence ; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy ' s resistance without fighting . The War of Ideas attempts to “ break the enemy ’ s resistance . ” Terrorists ' use of mass media . The jihadist terrorists ' strategic communications goals are aimed at legitimizing , propagating , and intimidating their audience . Their skilful use of the mass media and the internet to compensate for asymmetrical disadvantages has enabled them to keep generating new generations of jihadist terrorists . Al - Qaida ’ s message , disseminated widely and effectively through all forms of mass media , including the Internet , has a powerful appeal in much of the Muslim world . In 2007 , an al - Qaeda spokesman described Osama bin Laden ' s strategic influence of mass media in the Arab world : Sheikh Usama knows that the media war is not less important than the military war against America . That ’ s why al - Qaeda has many media wars . The Sheikh has made al - Qaeda ’ s media strategy something that all TV stations look for . There are certain criteria for the stations to be able to air our videos , foremost of which is that it has not taken a previous stand against the mujahedeen . That maybe explains why we prefer Al - Jazeera to the rest . Media and the internet enable terrorists to thrive in a cancerous manner in the freedom that democracies provide . The intensive , sometimes obsessive coverage in the media about a terrorist act generates the desired psychological effect . Terrorist actions are planned and organized in a manner that causes a strategically maximum communicative effect , while requiring minimal resources . The symbiotic relationship between terror events and the media is apparent : the perpetrators would have far less impact without media publicity and the media can hardly be expected to resist reporting . Satellite TV and the internet offers terrorists expanded possibilities of influencing and manipulating audiences . Terrorist media publication companies . Terrorist groups are utilizing mass media , particularly the internet , to win the " War of Ideas " because their inability to win a traditional head - to - head war against a military force . The following list of their media outlets are examples of how they wage this asymmetrical warfare to strategically influence their audience : Methods . Ensuring one ’ s own credibility while undermining your enemy ' s credibility is one of the key elements to winning this battle . For instance in the West ' s battle against jihadist terrorists , it is possible to counteract the three primary communication goals , the propagation and enlargement of their movement , the legitimization of their movement and the coercion and intimidation of their enemies . Next to eliminating root causes and alleviating the underlying conditions , motivators and enablers of terrorism , such as terrorists ' physical bases , developing an effective counter strategic communication plan , which exploits weaknesses and contradictions in the jihadists ' use of strategic communication techniques , is vital in winning the asymmetrical conflict with jihadist terrorists .