"Truth Is Our Weapon": Project TROY, Political Warfare, and Government-Academic Relations in the National Security State

Abstract

A rifle becomes meaningless as a mere component of military power unless combined with artillery, tanks, aircraft, and all the other necessary weapons. Like a rifle, an information program becomes a significant instrument in the achievement of our national objectives only when designed as one component in a political “weapon system.” Political warfare, we are convinced, should be organized like any form of warfare, with special weapons, strategy, tactics, logistics, and training.1

Propaganda, psychological warfare and communication research in the USA and the Soviet Union during the Cold War

“…via balloons) and called for further systematic research into political warfare against the communist bloc. Project Troy laid the foundation for intensified relations between the US government and the leading American universities (Needell, 1993) in Cold War-related research.…”

Introduction: History of Economics as History of Social Science

“…Interdisciplinary work might either putatively or actually lead to the emergence of new disciplines, such as cybernetics (Heims [1991(Heims [ ] 1993Bowker 1993) or communications studies (Pooley 2006), sometimes in ways not intended by those sponsoring it. For example, the MIT Center for International Studies originated in a project to bring social scientists together with engineers to solve problems of communicating with people behind the Iron Curtain in what was named "Project Troy" (Needell 1993(Needell , 1998Blackmer 2002;Gil man 2003, chap. 5).…”

Subtle Means and Enticing Carrots

“…In fact, the Big Three were central in the establishment, control and self-interested culling of social science in the early Cold War period. Ties between these foundations and intelligence agencies such as the CIA have been examined by a number of scholars, though anthropologists have seldom recognized these connections (Colby and Dennett, 1995;Huizer and Mannheim, 1979;Lawrence, 1979;Needell, 1993;Saunders, 1999;Weissman et al, 1974;Witanek, 1989). Functionally, these foundations serve as intergenerational antidevolutionary fortresses which protect large portions of amassed capital from inheritance and estate taxes -allowing family members to manage these funds, and direct research in areas of direct interest to the families and their investments (see Fisher, 1983).…”