Operationalizing Defense Support to Public Diplomacy

In the global war of ideas currently being fought, defense support to public diplomacy, DSPD, an enabling element of strategic communications, is a means that can contribute to the notion of countering ideological support to terrorism CIST by reinforcing U.S. strategic communication objectives in support of the U.S. National Security Strategy and regional engagement initiatives. This is difficult at best to implement at the strategic level, especially in the media environment and internet age. At the operational level, there is a lack of doctrine, policy, existence of best practices or indeed agreement on how defense support to public diplomacy should be done. This paper examines recent operational cases where military operations supported public diplomacy objectives to achieve U.S. desired outcomes. It will analyze key success factors for consideration by operational level commanders, and offer recommendations on supporting public diplomacy as an important enabling military capability.