"Truth Is Our Weapon": Project TROY, Political Warfare, and Government-Academic Relations in the National Security State

Abstract

A rifle becomes meaningless as a mere component of military power unless combined with artillery, tanks, aircraft, and all the other necessary weapons. Like a rifle, an information program becomes a significant instrument in the achievement of our national objectives only when designed as one component in a political “weapon system.” Political warfare, we are convinced, should be organized like any form of warfare, with special weapons, strategy, tactics, logistics, and training.1 This statement, made early in 1951, was part of a strongly worded report calling upon the United States to create a substantial, centrally coordinated political warfare effort. The report was produced by the members of a top secret study group called Project TROY. Named after the legendary city brought low by a wooden horse, Project TROY was funded by the State Department and organized under a contract with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It convened in October 1950 at the State Department's request, bringing together for a period of almost three months a group of twenty-one distinguished scientists, social scientists, and historians, most of whom were academics.

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