[rbanffy]

Nor is soft power.

The factbook was much more a tool for propaganda than anything else. While you could trust most of the numbers, you shouldn’t expect it to be fair about any socialist or communist countries, usually classified as brutal dictatorships, while it would always be exceedingly kind to countries with US sponsored dictators.

[eldavido]

I'd be interested to see concrete examples of this, if they exist.

[verdverm]

by "this"... that the current US govt isn't interested in soft power?

[pseudalopex]

They wanted examples of propaganda in the World Factbook probably.

[rbanffy]

It starts with framing the CIA as a neutral entity, which it is not. It's a form of metapropaganda, in which a propaganda outlet characterizes itself as a neutral provider of information.

One example that comes to mind is Patrice Lumumba's assassination, allegedly authorized by the American government. There is no mention to Lumumba's government that started in 1960.

Venezuela's entry has the same issue pointed out in the DPRK's - the negative impact of sanctions imposed by the US on the economy is not mentioned, and is described as "chaotic economy due to political corruption".

It is subtle, but it is propaganda as well.

[throwawayq3423]

I would also like to see a comparison to prove the point.

[nl]

> you shouldn’t expect it to be fair about any socialist or communist countries, usually classified as brutal dictatorships,

The World Fact Book doesn't have this kind of commentary. For example read the entry on North Korea. I've excerpted the most critical parts here, and I think they are a long way from your characterization:

> After the end of Soviet aid in 1991, North Korea faced serious economic setbacks that exacerbated decades of economic mismanagement and resource misallocation.

> New economic development plans in the 2010s failed to meet government-mandated goals for key industrial sectors, food production, or overall economic performance. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, North Korea instituted a nationwide lockdown that severely restricted its economy and international engagement.

> As of 2024, despite slowly renewing cross-border trade with China, North Korea remained one of the world's most isolated countries and one of Asia's poorest

https://web.archive.org/web/20260103000011/https://www.cia.g...

[mavhc]

Did it mention that USA bombed the entire country of North Korea completely destroying 85% of all buildings?

[fkdjdshkajdh]

Blaming DPRK's "economic mismanagement" while making no mention of the Western sanctions on DPRK which are the cause of its catastrophic economic and humanitarian situation, as well as its isolation. Yep, that's a classic trick with State Department propaganda. There are never any huge whoppers, instead the lies they tell are through omission and the subtle shifting of blame ("If Venezuela didn't want to be bombed, they should have given us their oil", etc) in order to craft a narrative that's incongruent with reality.

[neoromantique]

>Blaming DPRK's "economic mismanagement" while making no mention of the Western sanctions on DPRK which are the cause of its catastrophic economic and humanitarian situation

The catastrophic humanitarian situation IS the cause for the sanctions.

[red-iron-pine]

also the nukes. and shooting missiles over japan.

parent poster seems to want to ignore their decades of poor behavior and sheer brutality.

e.g. NK just executed people for watching squid game.

[shevy-java]

While that is true, the current government makes heavy use of propaganda too.

[rbanffy]

True, but they have abandoned the subtlety of the factbook.

[edsu]

The suggestion that obvious propaganda is somehow better than "subtle" propaganda is itself propaganda.

[rbanffy]

Obvious propaganda plays a role in the destruction of a shared objective reality, which is part of the authoritarian playbook. Subtle propaganda distorts reality but preserves the notion of a shared objective one and does not intend to undermine trust.

When a government uses blatant, easily disproven lies, but doubles down on the lies and continues with increasingly absurd ones, there is no space for subtlety or trustworthy sources in that government.

[pxc]

Yep. This seems somewhat similar in motivation to the cuts to USAID.