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The coalition's campaign in Iraq has become as much a psychological as a military war. Psychological warfare applies a series of messages and actions to persuade an audience to adopt [...]

This article explores the use of sport in the formation of an Israeli cultural (multi-ethnic) identity and its historical and contemporary place in the Palestinian–Israeli conflict. The power of sporting events lies in the fact that the teams represent for their fans an ideology beyond the game itself. Supporting a sports team is a primary form of identity for many people. Highly salient sporting events, which are supercharged with emotion and garner eager interest, are also a venue for achieving political objectives on the local, national, and international levels. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Democracies generally abstain from using psychological operations (PSYOP) as they perceive propaganda to be a totalitarian political tool. Whilst in (conventional) war they use it reluctantly, in small wars they hardly make use of it at all. The nature of small wars makes their handling more difficult for a democracy because it does not undergo the psychological process of mobilization. In contrast, the insurgents make vast use of PSYOP as they realize that the media can be easily exploited through the public's thirst for information. This essay outlines the weakness of democracies in their handling of the struggle over the hearts and minds of the public and proposes changes within democracies to employ effectively psychological warfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]