Center for Strategic Communication

Below is a list of the top ten most-viewed posts of 2009 on COMOPS Journal:

  1. Why Israel’s Twitter Experiment Flopped (January 12).  Dawn Gilpin analyzes Israel’s use of Twitter during its excursion into Gaza, concluding that it failed because of a lack of understanding of symmetry, culture, and the structure of the different media platforms.
  2. OK Now I’m Confused (April 17).  Steve Corman comments on an apparent blurring of lines between public affairs and public diplomacy in the State Department.
  3. Introducing the PD Chief Count-Up Clock (April 10).  COMOPS Journal inaugurates a count-up clock to the appointment of a new Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.  It ran for 129 days until the appointment of Judith McHale on May 26.
  4. Understand What Narrative Is and Does (September 3).  Scott Ruston urges a more sophisticated view of narrative in the conflict in Afghanistan.
  5. Getting Beat in the War of Ideas (February 26).  Steve Corman discusses on a poll released by WorldPublicOpinion.org showing dismal perceptions of the US in the Muslim world as of the end of the Bush administration.
  6. NATO Conference on Strategic Communication (May 16).  Steve Corman reports on a NATO-sponsored meeting in Ankara, Turkey discussing main themes that emerged from the conference.
  7. Recent Developments in Indonesia’s Anti-Terrorism Efforts (September 10).  Chris Lundry analyzes developments in Indonesian anti-terrorism in the aftermath of the July 17 hotel bombings in Jakarta.
  8. Rap is Da Bomb for Defeating Abu Yahya (September 14).  Jeff Halverson proposes an alternative strategy for undermining AQ ideologue Abu Yahya al-Libi.
  9. A Broader View of Internet Radicaliztion (March 26).  Pauline Cheong analyzes apparent disagreement in two reports about Internet radicalization.
  10. Goodbye GWOT, Hello…Overseas Contingency Operation? (April 5).  Steve Corman critiques the Obama administration’s questionable effort to relabel the conflict formerly known as the global war on terrorism.

There were also some posts from previous years with staying power.  Here are the top five:

  1. Did the Bad Guys Scuttle Their Own Forums? (October 13, 2008).
  2. COMOPS Top Posts of 2008 (December 31, 2008).
  3. Resisting Wahhabi Colonialism in Yogyakarta (November 6, 2008).
  4. Analysis: Blogging Better at the State Department (October 9, 2007).
  5. Strategic Communication by Any Other Name (September 30, 2008).

Many thanks to all our readers, and may you have a happy and prosperous 2010.