The idea emerged early on—specifically, for example, in the Psychological Strategy Board (PSB), which reported to the National Security Council—that the fight against the world communist movement and the Soviet Union should no longer be waged solely through “hard” anti-communist propaganda, but, as a 1953 PSB paper states, also through “long-term intellectual movements, which will appeal to intellectuals, including scholars and opinion-forming groups.”

U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed a $1.5 trillion military budget for the fiscal year 2027, which would increase by 44 percent the acknowledged budget for 2026.