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This chapter argues that the rift between Beijing and Moscow had a lasting influence on the situation along the border, with direct and indirect consequences for those living in the area. The two communist regimes, armed to the teeth, confronted one another on the border with even more weaponry and soldiers than had been assembled during the Japanese–Soviet arms race in the 1930s. Propaganda campaigns resuscitated old motifs of infiltration, sabotage, espionage, and disinformation, imbuing the border with new legitimacy as a space of enmity. The conflict was, of course, not just about winning or losing the hearts and minds of the people. Though no major war broke out, the war scare affected the security, economy, and demography in the border regions of Hulunbeir and Transbaikalia, and its concomitant outpouring of nationalism altered how the local populace in the divided Argun borderland perceived the border and its adjoining states.

Compulsorily broadcast in cinemas and on television, short films constituted the most important form of official propaganda. Chapter 2 provides the first systematic analysis of 106 AERP/ARP filmetes held by the National Archives in Rio, concentrating on production volume, content, aesthetics, and audience. Brazilian Propaganda demonstrates how these films revolutionized the formerly elitist propaganda style by portraying seemingly apolitical everyday topics. It introduces a subcategory for this kind of propaganda (subliminal propaganda) in contrast to other forms (blunt, indirect, and economic propaganda). The chapter identifies the most common film topics, highlighting in particular the themes of nationalism and rapid economic development.

This chapter focuses on the anti-Falungong propaganda campaign. It begins with a description of media programming in the anti-Falungong campaign in the national television and radio broadcasts. This is followed by an examination of the media campaign in the national press and the publications industry. A last section focuses on coordination among media organizations as well as that between media and other agencies.

This chapter mentions the key questions posed throughout this study and confronts the central question: was the British propaganda campaign directed at France between 1940 and 1944 an effective and well-directed use of resources? British propaganda machinery was not as efficient or well organised as it might have been, and certainly not before the formation of Political Warfare Executive in September 1941. The distribution methods and their effectiveness in ensuring how widely propaganda was received is perhaps the most crucial area of all: no matter how good the propaganda itself, without the means of delivery, it could have no impact. Propaganda created costs for the German and Vichy authorities. Leaflets were almost certainly used for that purpose – indeed, the German and Vichy authorities suggested that they should be.

This chapter turns to the East German propaganda campaign against RIAS, examining the various efforts taken by the German Democratic Republic to stop its population from listening to the American-sponsored broadcaster. The Socialist Unity Party's media organs deployed a consistent arsenal of themes through anti-RIAS pamphlets and newspaper stories. These almost always depicted RIAS as a militaristic, imperialist organ that strove to keep Germany divided and hoped to provoke a war with the Soviet Union. However, the East German government went beyond simply attacking the station in the media. It also targeted individuals who listened to RIAS as a minority of unpatriotic, treasonous vagrants who were easily duped by the lies of the United States.

This chapter examines U.S. President George W. Bush's war against Iraq. It explains that the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was preceded by a propaganda campaign monumental in its deceit and dishonesty, and argues that practically nothing which was said by the U.S. and British governments about Iraq turned out to be true. The chapter highlights Bush's claim that Iraq possessed chemical weapons and that it continues to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

This chapter focuses on the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy and the role of the Sacred Heart during the Restoration period in France. The first monarch to rule France after the French Revolution was Louis XVIII, the brother of King Louis XVI. He introduced the Charter of 1814, which recognized basic civil liberties and created a bicameral legislature. The chapter notes that the Sacred Heart was not as prominent as it had been. It shows how Restoration France looked at the Vendée, which was through the massive portraits that were unveiled in various salons. This is followed by a section on one of the most ambitious itinerant propaganda campaigns ever undertaken in French history: the Société des Missions, a domestic missionary campaign that aimed to restore a Catholic dimension to French public culture through a re-evangelization of post-revolutionary France. The chapter ends with a discussion of the assassination of Jean-Paul Marat and the visionary Laure.

This chapter describes how, during the mid-1970s, many Americans, Arabs, and Iranians experienced a new era of globalization due to petrodollar flows, and they came to impart meaning to the changes occurring within their globalizing societies through the production and consumption of competing narratives about MENA (Middle East and North Africa)–US petrodollar interdependence. For some, the US-led petrodollar order represented the best possibility for mutual cooperation and benefit between the societies of the MENA and the United States. For others, the same order threatened the livelihoods, sovereignty, values, and even lives of their peoples and allies, facilitating foreign assaults upon them; these parties offered alternative visions for structuring petrodollar flows. In their struggle to promote popular understandings of petrodollars, differing parties sought to gain popular legitimacy, and thus power, for their particular vision for the global political economy and responses to US empire. These debates, shaped into many different forms, surfaced throughout mass culture, news media, political and economic analysis, and a variety of policy-setting forums. They provided justifications for policies in various governments and the frameworks for their propaganda campaigns.

This chapter explores President Eisenhower's and President Kennedy's widespread use of symbolic gestures in the realm of civil rights—including the extensive use of African Americans as cultural ambassadors. It argues that both administrations waged an unsuccessful battle to alter international perceptions of U.S. race relations. To illustrate this point, this chapter focuses on the goodwill tours of Mal Whitfield and Rafer Johnson, both of whom were abroad touring in close proximity to the unrest in Little Rock, Arkansas, that was sparked by efforts to desegregate Central High School in 1957. By juxtaposing international coverage of Little Rock with the reception of Whitfield's and Johnson's tours, this chapter suggests that the propaganda campaigns were not able to drastically alter international perceptions of U.S. race relations.

This chapter examines the impact of the outbreak of World Word I on the anarchist movement in London. In particular, it looks at how the war divided the anarchists between interventionists and anti-interventionists, and the eventual disintegration of the network of international solidarity that used to be the core of the experience of political exile. It also considers the debate between Petr Kropotkin and Errico Malatesta about the war and the issue of militarism. In addition, the chapter discusses Italy’s eventual participation in the war and the anarchists’ propaganda campaign against the conflict. Finally, it explores how the departures of Russian militants affected the colony of anarchist refugees during the war.

I explain how the BSS was reorganised on the basis of the League of Friendship in a complex diplomatic context. I study how Franco’s regime attempted to control the League through the Spanish Embassy in London. I also explore how the League launched a propaganda campaign to change the British public’s negative perception of Franco’s Spain.

This chapter discusses China’s emergency responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. China’s emergency responses reflected a mixture of mass mobilization of political, economic, and social resources, as in war times. However, China’s initial mishandling of the Covid-19 outbreak, primarily at local levels, damaged the world’s trust. China sought world leadership through global propaganda campaigns and “mask diplomacy.” The chapter then investigates China’s legal and social prevention and control mechanisms, most notably community policing and surveillance technology. It also considers serious challenges that emerged in the early stages of the pandemic. China faced numerous challenges to its governance and state capacities, in resuming its economy, getting people employed, and ensuring people’s livelihood in an international context where the US–China relationship is fraught with tension.