From sustaining a regime to destroying the same, propaganda has always served as an important tool in governing people and manipulating their opinions and in manufacturing consent. Cold-war came to an end after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the period from the fall of the iron curtain till now is termed as the post-cold war era. Propaganda was at its peak and is explicit during the cold-war era, while the communists (USSR) focussed mainly on making their citizens believe in the communist ideology and in the concept of a ‘world-revolution’ the capitalists (USA) focussed mainly on making people afraid of the communists, or as they called it, the red scare. One of the major inventions that was made public after the cold-war is the internet which has reduced the effectiveness of propaganda by enabling and promoting individual networking in unprecedented levels, another important propaganda tool that has …show more content…
Research questions
(i) Can and should propaganda be used towards peace building?
(ii) Is propaganda really as influential and effective as it is commonly seen and does it really have a significant hold over general public opinion?
(iii) Is privatizing media and allowing foreign media without checks on the grounds of freedom of speech and expression (of press) really helpful for the society?
Research methodology
Qualitative research methodology observing the role of propaganda in specific cases has been chosen as the research methodology for this research paper.
Primary sources that are used include pieces of news and broadcasts that are used as propaganda while secondary sources include studies on various theories of propaganda and their impact on general public and international relations and policies.
Hypotheses
(i) Media can and should be used for the purpose of peace