Persuasion and Power: The Art of Strategic Communication

James Farwell — who has advised US Special Operations Command, Strategic Command, and the Department of Defense on information warfare and influence operations — brings rare practitioner authority to the subject of strategic communication. The book traces how states and non-state actors from Caesar to Obama have constructed and deployed influence campaigns, examining both the successes and the systematic failures that characterise Western strategic communication in the post-Cold War era.

Farwell's central argument is that the United States and its allies have consistently underinvested in and misunderstood strategic communication — treating it as a supplement to kinetic operations rather than as a primary instrument of strategy. He is particularly acute on the failure to understand the role of narrative: that effective strategic communication is not about disseminating facts but about constructing stories that resonate with target audiences' existing values, identities, and grievances. For practitioners advising governments or organisations on communication strategy in contested information environments, this book provides the most operationally grounded analysis available of what actually works and why most official efforts at strategic communication fail.