Persuasion and Power: The Art of Strategic Communication

James R Farwell

Praise for Persuasion and Power
“ There is an art to effective communication, to be sure, but art without a strategic objective is of dubious merit. In this intelligent and sweeping book, James P. Farwell

provides profound insights into how different countries, cultures, and institutions use
words and deeds to inform and shape the ideas, values, and actions of others.”
—William S. Cohen, former secretary of defense


“ A top expert on strategic communication, James Farwell combines superb scholarship with concise, vibrant writing in this riveting study of how leaders from antiquity to today have employed the principles of communication. It’s a great read, sharply insightful, and immensely informative.”
—Ambassador Gilbert A. Robinson (Ret.)

“ Every kinetic strike must have a strategic message. So much so that the message is more powerful than the strike. That is the insight that Farwell provides along with so many others. A must read for public relations officers, military information officers, and all of today’s and tomorrow’s leaders.”
— Lt. Gen. Dell L. Dailey, USA (Ret.), former director, Center for Special Operations, US Special Operations Command; former ambassador-at-large and coordinator for counterterrorism, State Department

“ No other book on the strategic communication shelf so clearly lays out the approaches, jargon, tools, and techniques used by State Department diplomats, military officers, and aid workers one finds on the ground in almost every foreign country.”
—Brian E. Carlson, defense and diplomacy specialist, InterMedia Research Institute

James R Farwell James P. Farwell is a defense consultant who advises the US Department of Defense
and the US Special Operations Command on a range of global initiatives and actions,
including strategic communication. He is also a senior research fellow in strategic studies at the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies in the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto. He is the author of The Pakistan Cauldron: Conspiracy, Assassination, and Instability.