[caminante]

I don't understand how you're aware of terms like COINTELPRO, yet are dismissive that black box slush funds like USAID weren't facilitating US soft power.

Heard of ZunZuneo, National Endowment for Democracy, Reporters Without Borders? The DOGE campaign put a spotlight on the ulterior motives of these "independent" USAID funded initiatives.

[jonway]

I guess so, it’s certainly no secret that US soft power has been a HUGE part of foreign policy, but I do t really see the connection between cointelpro( which had a lot of moving parts, like infiltration of news rooms in the USA and following around black student on college campuses for example) and this soft power.

American soft power is good. It means we don’t need to use direct action aka bombs and missiles.

I just reject your claims on this. US soft power is, for the United States, good and desirable.

[caminante]

> I just reject your claims on this. US soft power is, for the United States, good and desirable.

Not sure where this is coming from.