The Art of Persuasion

Images have a remarkable ability to stimulate mankind to action.  It is often said that a picture’s worth is 1000 times greater than that of the spoken word.  Indeed, an image produced skillfully can lead the viewer to form a close personal association between his life and the picture, perhaps even taking that picture’s meanings and goals as his or her own. 

Commericial advertisers understand this fact and use it, as do effective politicians and strategists.  From the earliest days of the republic, American leaders harnessed the power of the visual image to serve their ends.  Consider just two examples: the early American "Dont Tread on Me" flag and WWII Office of War Information posters.  Each persists today as a iconic reminder of the American spirit, a spirit stirred to action by the potency of shared ideals or of noble resistance to aggressive, conquering enemies.  All through the power of the image.

To be able to wield and defend against this power, Americans need to understand the ways in which imagery influences their thinking.  The Center for Security Policy thus presents the Art of Persuasion as an introduction to the subject of pictures, perception, and political power.  It presents an overview of the psychology of how visual communcation works, the ways in which image persuasion and dissuasion can be used against foreing leaders and publics, as well as the ways in which foreigners seek to manipulate us by controlling what we see.