“The United States has directed every American embassy and consulate across the world to launch coordinated campaigns against foreign propaganda”

“It comes as the United States is at war with Iran, whose government has for decades operated one of the world’s most sophisticated and prolific state disinformation apparatuses”

“The cable instructs those embassies and consulates to pursue five broad goals: countering hostile messaging, expanding access to information, exposing adversary behavior, elevating local voices who support American interests, and promoting what it calls 'telling America’s story'”

“Embassies are told to recruit local influencers, academics, and community leaders abroad to carry counter-propaganda messaging”

“These campaigns seek to shift blame to the United States, sow division among allies, promote alternative worldviews antithetical to America’s interests, and even undermine American economic interests and political freedoms”

“It is not common for the state department to openly combine public diplomacy with military psychological operations”

“Last year, the FBI had its foreign influence taskforce dissolved and the state department shuttered the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference hub”