Controlling the Narrative: A Recipe for Regime Change (Detailed Simplified Version)

Written by: Harsh Thakur & Salil Kulkarni
Originally Published: The Probe July'25

“Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing.” - George Orwell

Introduction

Wars are no longer fought on the battlefield, but in classrooms, universities, social media, television, print media and beyond. These wars are not fought with guns or ammunition but with narratives, that is, stories woven intricately to build a larger picture - a picture which portrays something as a reality even when it is not real. George Orwell aptly says, “Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else." The War of narratives has been a reality since antiquity; however, the Information Age, starting from the mid-20th Century, has made narratives a more powerful weapon which can influence masses effortlessly. Building narratives and sustaining them is part of the effort to control storylines, which, as a consequence, aids in one’s ability to control the world. It shouldn’t be a surprise that six media giants in the US control 90% of everything that is watched, read and heard. Five billionaires run and control the British media, with Rupert Murdoch controlling the largest share;(1) others being the Barclay Brothers, owners of the Telegraph, and Viscount Rothermere, owner of the Mail group. Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation owns the Wall Street Journal, while owning the Fox Entertainment Group. He also owns The Times through his ownership of News UK, along with the New York Post, SKY News, and its subsidiaries as well as HarperCollins Publishers. Lachlan Murdoch, his eldest son, since 2021, manages this empire.

In this piece, we delve into who & how these narratives are shaped. The article doesn't give steps but indispensable ingredients for the success of these narratives with historical illustrations. Further, we take a look at how these narratives play with the locus of control of individuals and consequently lead to a larger ‘regime change’ or, in other modest words, ‘colour revolutions.’ 

Locus of Control: Exploiting Perceptions to Build Perceptions

“The press does not tell us what to think, it tells us what to think about.” - Walter Lippmann

Facts are not what they appear to be, but they are what they are perceived to be. Truth has never been supreme in the affairs of state, but it has always been concealed in a bundle of lies, half-truths, hyperboles and innuendos. Unlike Mathematical equations, which are sacrosanct unless proven otherwise, historical facts, political facts, and ideas are susceptible to political & geopolitical conveniences. These narratives become perceptions with the passage of time and, over generations, acquire the halo of received wisdom. A person becomes the embodiment of their perceptions: likes, dislikes, hates, conjectures and prejudices. While archaeological facts are an exception, the conviction in these facts is determined by the narratives created.

It is here, we have the Locus of Control theory. It was introduced by Julian Rotter in 1954. This theory explains the extent to which individuals perceive control over their social, economic, cultural, and political lives. Rotter categorises the theory into two branches: internal locus of control and external locus of control. Each branch shows up as a different personality trait in a person. People usually have a mix of both, but they tend to lean more toward one than the other. To put it simply, individuals leaning towards an internal locus of control believe that they primarily control the events in their lives. Conversely, individuals inclined to the external locus of control attribute external factors to the outcomes of their lives, at times leading to a diminished sense of agency or, in simpler words, a diminished feeling of control and increased sense of helplessness and misery. (2)

A person with an internal locus of control believes that they are in control of their own lives and is more likely to take part in politics. They are the kind of people who vote, join campaigns, or protest, because they believe their actions can make a real difference. On the other hand, people with an external locus of control are the ones who believe that outside forces control their lives. Let us explain. Psychologically, this idea of control works like this: If someone keeps getting the same result no matter what they do, they start to think that their efforts don’t really matter. Over time, this makes them stop trying, because they feel nothing they do will change anything . (3) This is called "learned helplessness."(4) This is more likely in those people who have a strong external locus of control, and for them, it is especially true in politics because such individuals are less likely to vote or protest. (5) These are the kind of people who feel both helpless and, at times, afraid; as a result, they may start supporting totalitarian leaders or radical political actions. (6) They look for someone strong to protect them, especially in times of crisis. We’ve seen this in history, like in Russia’s Bolshevik Revolution of 1918 or Mussolini’s March on Rome of 1922, where people shifted from non-engagement with politics to taking radical action to feel in control again. Whether these actions are justified or not is another debate we aren't entering into. Nevertheless, this brings us to the next point that this shift from internal to external control can happen effortlessly, especially when the system is perceived to be or is, in fact, rigged or unfair, like in Pakistan, where the system is, in fact, rigged. (7) This frustration often pushes some towards rebellion or militancy. In Pakistan, organisations such as the TTP, Balochistan Liberation Army, Sindhudesh Liberation Army, so on & so forth exist for the very same reason.

As a matter of fact, even freebies like free electricity or laptops can lead to this mindset. If all parties or all candidates offer the same things, and for one person, all that they want is something like this, then naturally, their political participation in the affairs of the state would diminish. But if only one party or candidate offers it, and it’s not their favourite, then by attributing to ‘no better alternative’, they resort to fatalism and diminish their political expression. In turn, this will lead to outcomes such as excessive dependency on that one government, manifesting in political loyalties. Over time, this can also lead to dependence on the government and blind loyalty, especially if people start seeing government support not as a right, but as a favour. Economic benefits and affirmative action, such as quotas & reservations, if misused, can make people overly dependent on the government, weakening their belief in their own abilities. This strategy is often used to create loyal voter bases. While welfare and reservations are important, overdoing them can harm people’s motivation and turn them into passive followers rather than empowered citizens.

And this is where narratives are about externalising control of the people to manifest a dependence on the government. In the contemporary world, the media serves as a pivotal instrument to shape public perceptions regarding their expectations of political outcomes. They often tell what should be the ‘right opinion’ and the ‘right story’, but more so, they decide what is the ‘right’ topic that should be debated and argued about. We shall build onto this as we move ahead.

Hollywood: Making the Ideal One, the Enemy, the Saviour.

“Propaganda must facilitate the displacement of aggression by specifying the targets for hatred.” - Joseph Goebbels

Narratives, especially wartime narratives, often direct people’s aggression to a person, a group, or a system; they become the victim of the hatred of the masses. Antisemitism was a prevalent reality in Europe of the 19th & 20th centuries. The Russian Pogroms of 1881-82, 1903-06, the Dreyfus Affair in France, and the widely read book ‘The Protocol of the Elders of Zion’ were living embodiments of Antisemitism in Europe. The Nazis, with all due sensitivity for what you’re about to read, capitalised on this prevalent sentiment to commission the Holocaust. Their narrative made the Jews, the non-Aryans, and the communists the enemies to fight against. Similarly, the Soviet Union justified the Great Purge to arrest & kill innocent people whom it considered ‘counter-revolutionaries’, ‘saboteurs’, ‘fascist spies’ and the ‘enemies of the people’. Interestingly, in totalitarian regimes, people are made to believe that their safety and their survival depends entirely on the government. As a result, they stop trusting themselves to change things and become loyal and dependent on those in power. Jews became the enemy at that time in Germany, whereas the Armenians became the enemy in the Ottoman Empire in the First World War. The Native Americans became the Enemy of the American People during the Indian Removal Genocide in the US. 

To fight 'the enemy' or 'the enemies', the need arises to have 'the ideal one'. A notable feature of building & sustaining wartime narratives is about creating the imagery of the ideal one who valiantly fought against the enemy. The 'ideal one' is the hero the masses must believe in & popularity of the ideal one is the reward one would get for being loyal to the government. During Nazi Germany, the Germans used the ideal of zeitgeist (general spirit), for conformity. (8) The Soviets had this ideal in Pavlik Morozov. A fabricated story was built around the real murder of a child. The fabricated story was that Pavlik reported his father, the chairman of a village Soviet, to the political police (GPU) for forging documents & selling them to bandits and the enemies of the Soviet Union, for which his father was arrested & sent to the Gulag due to which the rest of the family brutally murdered him. The rest of the family was labelled to be ‘reactionaries’, and so they were sentenced to death. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, this tale proved to be forged one but it was widely told, and opera, songs were made around it. Children were encouraged to report their parents to the authorities, and statues were erected in the memory of Pavlik.

If the 'ideal one' is an inspiration for the masses, then the 'saviour' is the Messiah all the ideal ones must admire, because, unlike all of them, only this saviour can save the day. The British Intelligence during the 2nd World War ran an intricate propaganda campaign, and generated about twenty rumours a week that they fed to American reporters. They would then follow the trail to see if these rumours had been picked up by the American media, from where it would reach Germany.  It was never important whether these rumours were truthful or credible. One such story was what Louis de Wohl, a Hungarian ‘astro-philosopher’, was telling his American audiences: that a man born on the date Hitler came to power would cause his downfall. (9) The date in question was 30 January, which was then US President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s birthdate. (10) 

The British Political Warfare Executive during the Second World War defined Publicity as, 

“the straightforward projection of a case; it is the build-up of a picture in the mind of the audience which will win their confidence and support,” and was intended to persuade through ‘the presentation of evidence, leaving the judgement to the audience.”(11)

However, they defined propaganda as, 

“deliberate, covert action intended ‘to direct the thinking of the recipient, without his conscious collaboration, into predetermined channels.”(12) 

During the Second World War, the Nazis were vilified, and they were defeated with the help of the communists, but near the end of the war, they were going to employ these very Nazis as agents in their espionage agencies to defeat the communists in Moscow. (13) Like former R&AW Chief Vikram Sood would keep it, “The Nuremberg trials were a grand parody and a salvation of the soul. Idealism had little space in this game.” (14) 

During the Second World War, Americans saw the celluloid heroism of John Wayne, which inspired many young men to go to futile wars they did not understand. Wayne stood tall, tough, vigilant and moral – but only on-screen. Along with Wayne, a certain Ronald Reagan was also in Hollywood, and Reagan salvaged his fading career by informing his bosses, Jack Warner and Louis B. Meyer, of ‘communist’ activities in Hollywood and making wartime propaganda films. (15) They set the tone for Manufactured Idealism, which was packaged and promoted for the screen, and soon became the voice of America. Reagan, the head of the Screen Actors’ Guild, appeared eighteen times before the House of Representatives’ Un-American Activities Committee as a ‘friendly witness’. His principal function was to acknowledge ‘Red Plots’ in the major studios and identify the ‘plotters’.(16) 

The Don'ts & the Trap: Journalism, Espionage & Scholarships

“Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.” - Joseph Goebbels

When political interests are camouflaged as principles, which are then transformed into narratives, it is a matter of time before the two come into conflict. China isn’t a mysterious power; it has been a totalitarian state since 1949. It is a country ruled by megalomaniacs who practice state capitalism and preach socialism and communism. They essentially use ideology for legitimacy. Ideology is their “Opium for the Masses.” However, it was the West and the rest of the world that glamourised a dictatorship and created a supply chain around it to fill its coffers and obtain benefits of various kinds. Unravelling China’s mysteries became an intellectual challenge at universities and think tanks, even as activists flagged human rights violations in the country. Eventually, it was a game destined to go awry, and as we see today, how previously held narratives have become skewed. 

The narrative on Libya exhibits how flexible and pragmatic narrative making is, but short-term narratives have their own pitfalls. The Americans & the British considered Gaddafi’s Libya to be a “rogue, authoritarian state” and so they intervened as a global democracy enforcer to preach their principles of democracy in 1986 through Airstrikes and in 1993 by sponsoring a coup only to form a ‘strategic partnership’ with Gaddafi in 2004 simply because he was catering to the Oil lobby by handing out lucrative contracts. (17)  

Along with long-term, flexible & pragmatic narrative making is the use of journalists. Previous illustrations have already highlighted how the media can be played with, but the media can also be collaboratively used. Carl Bernstein, a former Washington Post journalist, published a story in 1977. He claimed that there were at least 400 American journalists who had secretly carried out assignments for the CIA. (18) This was based on official documents.  The range of activities varied from the covert to the overt– from clandestine work as go-betweens for the CIA in communist countries to sharing their notebooks & even sharing their staff members. Pulitzer Prize winners, distinguished journalists and some stringers were enjoying the thrills of espionage. CIA documents accessed by Bernstein also revealed that quite often, journalists performed tasks for the agency with the approval of their own senior management. (19) The most valuable associations for the intelligence body were with the New York Times, Columbia Broadcasting Service (CBS), and Time Inc. Bernstein also revealed that Time Inc. founder, Henry Luce, and CBS chairman, William Paley, were among those who were helping the CIA. These revelations are enough to rock the 'fourth pillar' of the beacon of democracy. (20) There is no reason to assume that this no longer exists. On the other hand, there is every reason for the US to have strengthened and expanded these exchanges to higher levels. As writer Nicholas Schou pointed out in the introduction to his book, 'Spooked: How the CIA Manipulates the Media and Hoodwinks Hollywood', he says, "But, in truth, the US intelligence empire’s efforts to manufacture the truth and

mould public opinion is vaster and more varied than ever before."(21)

In fact, Journalists were or perhaps still are regularly invited to the CIA’s headquarters, in Langley, for briefings. Disclosures under FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) revealed CIA's email exchanges for narrative assistance with the Associated Press, Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and others.(22) Some of the prominent invitees were David Ignatius from Washington Post, and ‘the former ombudsmen for the New York Times, National Public Radio (NPR), and Washington Post and Fox News’ Bret Baier, Juan Williams and Catherine Herridge’.(23) Of those who exchanged emails with the CIA’s press office for article corrections & narrative corrections were Ken Dilanian of  Los Angeles Times, Matt Apuzzo, then at Associated Press; Brian Bennet of the LA Times; Siobhan Gorman of the Wall Street Journal; Scott Shane of the New York Times. (24) 

Adding to this Media-Espionage collaboration is telling a 'big' lie, and keeping it simple. W.H. Lawrence, the famed Times reporter, wrote an article soon after the Hiroshima nuclear blast. His report was headlined, ‘No Radioactivity in Hiroshima Ruin.’ And, while this was simply not true, it was accepted by people, intellectuals, students & half-baked intellectuals. (25) Saddam Hussein is a classical example here. He was in Western good books until 1989. During the Iraq War, for the first time, journalists were broadcasting a live war. They lived with the American Soldiers and were evidently fed intelligence to spread the story. The WMDs were never found, but the Iraqi people were traumatised. When the Iranian coup sponsored by the CIA dethroned the popularly elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1953, the Washington Post described this as ‘a cause to rejoice’, while the Times described Mosaddegh as a ‘rabid, self-seeking nationalist’, and his overthrow ‘brings us hope’ for the future. (26) The mouthpieces of the American Democracy were celebrating the downfall of another democracy. Nevertheless, for the intelligence agencies, it is not just what the publications report that matters to them; it is also how the story is written, as well as what they do not publish. Before we ponder over the final ingredient of this cauldron, there is the scholarship part to address.

“You can’t change the masses. They will always be the same: dumb, gluttonous and forgetful.” - Joseph Goebbels

Narrative cannot be sustained for long if limited to the masses, for they can be deconstructed over a period of time. For a narrative to be sustained, it needs to be systemised through 'intellectual discourse.' Whether the discourse is really intellectual or half-baked is another matter, but it must be perceived to be 'intellectual.' And for this cause, one should even bring in 'useful idiots' as Vladimir Lenin would call them. Thereafter, journalists & these intellectuals become the contemporary mechanism to sustain a certain narrative, only to be replaced by another generation of intellectuals or half-baked intellectuals and some historians to perpetuate it for eternity. 

One intriguing methodology to cultivate this cause alignment without the victim's knowledge involves offering scholarships, fellowships, and institutional platforms to sympathetic or susceptible intellectuals. This approach must be broadened to include emerging politicians, thinkers, writers, influencers, diplomats, and scientists—essentially anyone positioned to influence public thought or policy in the present time or the future. The National Endowment for Democracy (NED), International Republican Institute (IRI), National Democratic Institute (NDI), USAID, Freedom House, and George Soros's Open Society Foundation (OSF) are a few NGOs among many that have been at the forefront of this.(27)(28)

The Open Society Foundation, in its own document, "GEORGE SOROS AND THE FALL OF COMMUNISM IN EUROPE", proudly states that in the 1980s, Soros began offering scholarships to a handful of dissidents who dared to challenge the system in Eastern & Central European Countries, allowing them to travel to study in the United States. (29) He also began funding dissident groups such as Charta 77 in Czechoslovakia, the Solidarity labour union in Poland, and for the Sakharovs and their allies in the Soviet Union. (30) A paper published by University College London highlighted how the 'Orange Revolution' in Ukraine was funded by Western NGOs such as George Soros's International Renaissance Foundation, which pledged $16.5 million dollars along with the other American Government funds. In fact, the OSF has been banned in Russia since 2015 as a 'threat to the security of the state'.(31) In 1989, the Chinese Government arrested Soros' China Fund representatives in China for being "foreign subversive forces" & collaborating with the CIA. (32) Turkish President Erdogan in 2018, described Soros as, "This is a man who assigns people to divide nations and shatter them. He has so much money and he spends it this way."(33) Subsequently, the OSF stopped its operations in Turkey that year. The story is no different for him in Hungary or Bharat. In Hungary, a legislation was brought dubbed as "Stop Soros" & after scrutiny of his organization increased, he stopped operations there. (34) Whereas in Bharat, any funding from his OSF to any NGO requires government approval since 2016. (35)

Similar to the OSF, National Endowment for Democracy (NED)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41) has been engaged in such activities along with International Republican Institute (IRI)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46), National Democratic Institute (NDI)(47)(48)(49)(50), Freedom House(51)(52)(53)(54)(55) and the USAID(56)(57)(58)(59)(60)(61)(62)(63) and as a result have faced blacklash in different countries including Russia, China, India, Brazil, Hungary, Egypt, Venezuela, Cambodia, Vietnam, Bahrain, Mynmar, Nicaragua, Antigua & Barbuda, Saint Vincent, Ecuador, Dominica, Bolivia, Syria, Iran, Pakistan, Cuba among others for interfereing in their internal affairs and many countries have even banned them. 

Conclusion: Demoralization & Truth

“There will come a day, when all the lies will collapse under their own weight, and truth will again triumph.” - Joseph Goebbels

Napoleon Bonaparte once said, "History is a set of lies that people have agreed upon." In fact, Joseph Goebbels said, "We shall go down in history as the greatest statesmen of all time, or as the greatest criminals." The actions of Goebbels and his kind are considered to be a part of the latter today. He didn't say it out of self-consciousness of his crimes, but with this conscious understanding that history would be kinder, and absolving to the winners of the war. Harold Pinter, the British playwright, in his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize for Literature in December 2005 said,

"Everyone knows what happened in the Soviet Union and throughout Eastern Europe during the post-war period: the systematic brutality, the widespread atrocities, the ruthless suppression of independent thought. All this has been fully documented and verified. But my contention here is that the US crimes in the same period have only been superficially recorded, let alone documented, let alone acknowledged, let alone recognised as crimes at all."(64) He continued:

"Across the world, the extinction and suffering of countless human beings could be attributed to rampant American power. But you wouldn’t know it. It never happened. Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening, it wasn’t happening. It didn’t matter. It was of no interest. The crimes of the United States have been systematic, constant, vicious, remorseless, but very few people have talked about them. You have to hand it to America. It has exercised a quite cynical manipulation of power worldwide, while masquerading as a force for universal good. It’s a brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis."(65)

According to journalist John Pilger, "Harold Pinter’s subversive truth…was that he made the connection between imperialism and fascism and described a battle for history that’s almost never reported. This is the great silence of the media age. And this is the secret heart of propaganda today." (66)

History has been used as a mechanism to perpetuate a narrative in the name of truth. Half-baked intellectuals forming intellectual cliques & cross-citing, cross-referring, popularising to each other's works allows them to maintain a hegemony and perpetuate a lie as a truth. Yuri Bezmenov, a former KGB operative who defected to the US, laid forth the theory for the ideological subversion of a society, of which the most prominent & first step is Demoralization. He speaks about it as, 

"What it basically means is: to change the perception of reality of every (countryman) to such an extent that, despite of the abundance of information, no one is able to come to sensible conclusions in the interest of defending themselves, their families, their community, and their country."(67)

Referring to such people, Bezmenov said:

“They are programmed to think and react to certain stimuli in a certain pattern. You can not change their mind even if you expose them to authentic information. Even if you prove that white is white and black is black, you still can not change the basic perception and the logic of behaviour.”(68)

He further said:

"A person who was demoralized is unable to assess true information. The facts tell nothing to him. Even if I shower him with information, with authentic proof, with documents, with pictures; even if I take him by force to the Soviet Union and show him [a] concentration camp, he will refuse to believe it, until he [receives] a kick in his fan-bottom. When a military boot crashes his balls, then he will understand. But not before that. That’s the [tragedy] of the situation of demoralization." (69)

The Europeans did so with all their colonies; they demoralized the populace of those colonies to create a disgust for their very own cultures and history. Bharat was no exception. Narratives were peddled and are still sustained through a system of ‘useful idiots’ as Lenin would call them, who would unbidden continue to smoulder those storylines. These people in Bharat are those people with a continuing desire to either look good in front of, or imitate the actions and thoughts of, the colonizers and seek their

approbation. And through what they've made history, lies continue to be smouldered as truth. Sati is dubbed as a Barbaric ancient Bharatiya tradition when, in fact, it wasn't even a tradition, and the Britishers made a whole load of disinformation out of it for their narrative.(70) The phenomenon of Dowry, is no different. It never existed in Bharat. It is a western tradition. In Bharat, there is Streedhan, which is a lot different from Dowry. (71)(72)(73)(74)(75) 

Similarly, Nicholas B. Dirks in his book, "Castes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern India" argued that while forms of caste through varnas & Jatis existed before colonialism as they presently do in Bali, the 'British state fundamentally transformed these social categories into a rigid, pan-Indian system through the census, administrative ordering, and Orientalist scholarship.'(76) He contends that the "caste system as we know it" is largely a product of colonial intervention and codification. (77) Furthermore, scholars from overseas and within India, such as Tony Ballantyne,  Eleanor Nesbitt, Dipankar Gupta, Aloka Parasher-Sen, Vivekanand Jha, Susan Bayly, Edmund Leach, and Bernard S. Cohn, among many other such scholars, have, evidence-wise, supported this argument.

A narrative rendered directly by state apparatus – civil or military – is usually unimaginative, and generally received with scepticism. A great deal of subtlety and patience is required, along with an agility to modify or change course if necessary. An effective, acceptable, long-term narrative is a game changer, and more than half the battle is won this way. Mere power – military, economic, technological – is not enough for global control and dominance; what is needed is a narrative that creates and sustains the right perceptions. The colonies are still colonized, though independent.

“The first step in liquidating a people is to erase its memory. Destroy its books, its culture, its history. Then have somebody write new books, manufacture a new culture, invent a new history. Before long that nation will begin to forget what it is and what it was… The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting: - Milan Kundera

Citations:

1. Janey Davis, ‘Five Mind Control Techniques Used by the Media to Evoke the Worst in US’, Learning Mind, 25th April 2018. https://www.learning-mind.com/mind-control-techniques-media/, accessed in June 2020.
2. Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalised expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs, 80, 1-28.
3. Maier, S. F., & Seligman, M. E. (1976). Learned helplessness: Theory and evidence. Journal of Experimental Psychology General, 105(1), 3–46. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.105.1.3
4. Farhart, C. (2017). Look who is disaffected now: Political causes and consequences of learned helplessness in the U.S. https://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/209058
5. Hiroto, D. S. & University of Portland. (1974). LOCUS OF CONTROL AND LEARNED HELPLESSNESS. In Journal of Experimental Psychology (Vol. 102, Issue 2).
6. Nova, E. (2019). The role of fear and learned helplessness in authoritarian thinking. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS QUARTERLY, 10(3–4), 3–4.
7. Imran Ahmed, Muhammad Saad Ul Haque, “Unpacking Pakistan’s 2024 General Elections and the Aftermath,” Institute of South Asian Studies, National
8. Rapaport, E., & Schabio, W. (2023, January 27). Propaganda. Pressbooks. https://psu.pb.unizin.org/holocaust3rs/chapter/chapter-1/
9. Vikram Sood, “The Ultimate Goal: A Former R&AW Chief Deconstructs How Nations and Intelligence Agencies Construct Narratives”, Harper Collins Publication, 2020, pp. 72
   
10. Ibid
11. Steven T Usdin, Bureau of Spies: The Secret Connection Between Espionage and Journalism in Washington, New York, Prometheus Books, 2018, pp. 139
12. Ibid
13. Eric Lichtblau, “In Cold War, U.S. Spy Agencies Used 1,000 Nazis”, The New York Times, 26th October 2014
14. Vikram Sood, “The Ultimate Goal: A Former R&AW Chief Deconstructs How Nations and Intelligence Agencies Construct Narratives”, Harper Collins Publication, 2020, pp. 73
    
15. Christopher Yogerst, “Review: When Hollywood Caved to a Congressman with no Decency,” 22nd April 2018.
    https://www.postandcourier.com/features/review-when-hollywood-caved-to-a-congressman-with-no-decency/article_d287cae9-b83d-5a4b-8879-dc1e960e6903.html
16. John Pilger, Heroes, London: Pan Books, 1986, pp. 103-104
17. Ken Silverstein, “How Kadafi Went From Foe to Ally,” Los Angles Times, Sept. 4, 2005
18. Nicholas Shou, “Spooked: How the CIA Manipulates the Media and Hoodwinks Hollywood,” Hootbooks and Skyhorse Publishing, New York 2016, pg 21.
19. Ibid
20. Ibid
21. Ibid, pg 1
22. Ken Silverstein, 'CIA Mop-up Man: L.A.Times Reporter Cleared Stories with Agency Before Publication', 5th September 2014.
    
    
23. Ibid
24. Ibid
25. John Pilger, 'The Invisible Government'.
26. Nicholas Shou, “Spooked: How the CIA Manipulates the Media and Hoodwinks Hollywood,” Hootbooks and Skyhorse Publishing, New York 2016, pg 8.

27. JAIBAL NADUVATH, “American Aid and Regime Change in Bangladesh: A Primer,” ORF, 27th March 2025
    
    

28. CRA Staff, “Primer: The National Endowment for Democracy and an NGO Ecosystem Actively Undermining America,” Center for Renewing America, 7th February 2025

29. Open Society Foundation, George Soros & the Fall of Communism in Europe

30. Ibid

31. Jennifer Ablan, "Russia bans George Soros foundation as state security threat," Reuters, 1st December 2015.

32. Marianne Yen, "Fund's Representatives Arrested in China," The Washington Post, 7th August 1989

33. "Soros Foundation to end work in Turkey amid 'baseless claims," 26th November 2018

34. Judith Vonberg, "George Soros Foundation Leaves Hungary amidst Government Crackdown," 16th May 2018
    

35. Neeraj Chauhan, "3 US Donors on MHA Watchlist, face fund curbs," 8th June 2016

36. Alec Luhn, "National Endowment for Democracy is the first 'undesirable' NGO banned in Russia." The Guardian, 25th June 2015

37. Neeraj Chauhan, "3 US Donors on MHA Watchlist, face fund curbs," 8th June 2016

38. Golanz Esfandiari, "Iran Ban targets some 60 'seditious' Western Groups," RadioFreeEurope, 5th January 2010

39. Ron Nixon, "US Groups Helped Nuture Arab Uprisings," New York Times, 14th April 2011.

40. Gerry Shih, "China Announces Sanctions Against US-based non-profit groups," The Washington Post, 3rd December 2019

41. "China Sanctions Four with US democracy promotion ties over Hong Kong," Reuters, 30th November 2020

42. CBC Correspondent, "Haiti: Democracy Undone," CBC News, 29th January, 2006

43. Ron Nixon, "US Groups Helped Nuture Arab Uprisings," New York Times, 14th April 2011.

44. Carol Morello, "US Democracy & Human Rights Leaders Sanctioned by China vow not to be cowed into silence," The Washington Post, 11th August 2020

45. "IRI in Poland " IRI Poland, 28th October, 2005.

46. Jean Guy Allard, "Bush's Man for Cuba, author of Haitian Disaster, " Digital Growma International, 28th October 2005.
    

47. "Cambodia's Government Asks the Court the Abolish the Opposition," The Economist, 12th October 2017
    

48. "Cambodia shutters radio stations, expels US NGO," Al Jazeera, 23rd August 2017
    

49. Christopher Marquis, "US Bankrolling is Under Scrutiny for Ties to Chavez Ouster," New York Times, 25th April 2002
    

50. John Kirby, "Designation Under Russia's "Undesirables" Law of the National Democratic Institute," US Department of State, 10th March 2016.
    

51. Guy Dinmore, "Bush enters debate on freedom in Iran," The Financial Times, 31st March 2006.
    

52. Ron Paul, "US Hypocrisy in Ukraine," 7th December 2004
    

53. UN, "NGO Committee hears arguments For, Against Freedom House," 25th May 2001
    

54. Carol Morello, "US Democracy & Human Rights Leaders Sanctioned by China vow not to be cowed into silence," The Washington Post, 11th August 2020
    

55. "Russia Declares US NGO Freedom House an Undesirable Organisation", Reuters, 7th May 2024
    

56. "USAID Programme used young Latin Americans to incite Cuba Rebellion," The Guardian, 4th August 2014.
    

57. Desmond Butler, Jack Gillium, Alberto Arce, "US Secretly Built 'Cuban Twitter' to stir unrest," 4th April 2014
    

58. Simon Romero, "Fears of Turmoil Persist as Powerful President reshapes Bitterly Divided Bolivia," New York Times, 27th September 2008
    

59. "Bolivian President Evo Morales Expels USAID," BBC, 1st May 2013.
    

60. "Bolsonaro was seen as a 'tropical trump' by USAID," Poder360, 4th February 2025
    

61. Victoria Pachecho, Gabriela Caseff, "Eduardo Bolsonaro accuses NGOs and USAID of interfering in elections," Folha De S.Paulo, 7th February 2025
    

62. William Blum, "Killing Hope: US Military & CIA Interventions in WWII," Zeedbooks, pg 142, 200, 234.
    

63. "After More than 50 Years, USAID is Leaving Ecuador." NBC News, 1st October 2014

64. Harold Pinter, "Art, Truth and Politics."

65. Ibid

66. John Pilger, 'The Invisible Government'.

67. Paul Ratner, "39 Years Ago, A KGB Defector chillingly predicted Modern America," Big Think, 13th January 2023

68. Ibid

69. Ibid

70. Nithin Sridhar, "Revisiting Sati: Understanding the Practice from a Dharmic Perspective", Indiafacts, 29th November 2017

71. Rajnandini, "The Lost Legacy of Hindu Women's Rights - Dowry Stridhan, and colonialism," the Organiser, 14th April 2025
    

72. Nikhil Chandwani, "Contrary to popular belief, dowry system in India doesn't have indigenious roots." Times of India, 13th December 2021.
    

73. Madhu Kishwar, "Protecting Women in Marriage," Hinduism Today, 1st July 2006

74. "Is Woman sole owner of Streedhan received during wedding? Here is what the Supreme Court Says," The Economic Times, 30th August 2024

75. Streedhan: Jharkhand State Legal Service Authority

76. Nicholas Dirks, Caste in Mind

77.