disinfozone/The_Info_Web
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Pull requests Projects Releases Packages Wiki Activity Actions

vault backup: 2026-10-09 14:38:43

Browse source
This commit is contained in:
disinfo.zone 2026-10-09 14:38:43 -04:00
parent ee841730d4
commit a3d80c10ad
No known key found for this signature in database
5 changed files with 144 additions and 91 deletions
Download patch file Download diff file Expand all files Collapse all files

39
20 - ORGANIZATIONS/PRIVATE/Rand Corporation.md
View file

@ -22,6 +22,12 @@ relations:
start: 1948-07
end: 1960
fn: 2
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Leo Rosten]]"
reverse: true
role: "member of the 1946 committee on social scientists; came to RAND through W. Allen Wallis (Bessner, note 89)"
start: 1946
fn: 3
summary: "The Rand Corporation is the Air Force's principal Cold War nonprofit think tank in Santa Monica, founded as Project RAND in 1946, whose Vietnam-era Viet Cong Motivation and Morale Study produced suppressed critical findings."
---
The Rand Corporation, whose name is an acronym for Research and Development, is headquartered in [[Santa Monica, California]], with a Washington, D.C., office near the [[White House]]. It arose from the partnership between university scientists and the military that developed during the Second World War, established as Project RAND in 1946 with the [[U.S. Air Force]] as its primary institutional sponsor and incorporated as an independent nonprofit in 1948. It is not primarily a psychological research organization; economists and political scientists form the largest part of its staff. In the [[Cold War]] it was among the first institutions to apply systematic psychological and social scientific methods to military problems, including censorship policy, the psychological effects of weapons, propaganda organization, and, most controversially, the morale and motivation of enemy forces during the [[Vietnam War]].[^1]
@ -30,17 +36,19 @@ The Rand Corporation, whose name is an acronym for Research and Development, is
In the summer of 1946 a committee of [[Herbert Goldhamer]], Olaf Helmer, Frederick Mosteller, [[Leo Rosten]], W. Allen Wallis, [[Warren Weaver]] and Samuel Wilks began to consider which social scientists to bring to Project RAND. In September 1947 Project RAND held a Conference of Social Scientists in New York (September 14 to 19; RAND R-106, June 9, 1948) to recruit leaders for its planned Social Science and Economics divisions. The thirty-five participants included [[Ernst Kris]], [[Franz Neumann]], [[Harold Lasswell]], [[Bernard Brodie]], [[Ruth Benedict]], Charles Dollard and [[Pendleton Herring]] of the [[Carnegie Corporation]], Donald Young of the [[Social Science Research Council]] and Warren Weaver of the [[Rockefeller Foundation]], an early RAND consultant. Weaver told the group that every piece of knowledge in sociology, economics and political science would be forged into "weapons" for the defense of democracy; [[Frank Collbohm]] told them that the Air Force "makes available to RAND information in other fields, intelligence, plans, etc."[^2]
[[Hans Speier]] came to RAND from the [[New School for Social Research]], where from April 1, 1941 he had co-directed with Kris the [[Research Project on Totalitarian Communication]] under Rockefeller Foundation grants. At the [[Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service]] he was offered the post of Senior Political Analyst by [[Goodwin Watson]] in February 1942 and became Principal Political Analyst in November 1942; after Watson left he became Acting Chief Analyst, and on May 22, 1944 he transferred to the [[Office of War Information]]'s Overseas Operations Branch.[^3] A connection he made at the OWI with Rosten brought him to RAND's attention.[^2] He consulted from May 1948 and headed the Social Science Division from July 1948, keeping it in Washington until 1957. He hired [[Alexander George]], [[Nathan Leites]], Phil Davison and William Kaufmann, several of them colleagues from the Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service, used Leon Gouré, [[John Herz]] and [[Otto Kirchheimer]] as consultants, held a "Q" clearance, and opened a RAND office in Wiesbaden. In October 1960 the divisions were reorganized into departments, Goldhamer succeeded him, and Speier joined the Research Council (chairman 1961 to 1962).[^2][^4]
Rosten, who had served in the [[Office of War Information]] as liaison between Washington and Hollywood, was one of the committee's members. Bessner says Rosten came to RAND through W. Allen Wallis, who had worked with Helmer and Williams on the Applied Mathematics Panel during the war.[^3]
[[Hans Speier]] came to RAND from the [[New School for Social Research]], where from April 1, 1941 he had co-directed with Kris the [[Research Project on Totalitarian Communication]] under Rockefeller Foundation grants. At the [[Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service]] he was offered the post of Senior Political Analyst by [[Goodwin Watson]] in February 1942 and became Principal Political Analyst in November 1942; after Watson left he became Acting Chief Analyst, and on May 22, 1944 he transferred to the Office of War Information's Overseas Operations Branch.[^4] A connection he made at the OWI with Rosten brought him to RAND's attention.[^2] He consulted from May 1948 and headed the Social Science Division from July 1948, keeping it in Washington until 1957. He hired [[Alexander George]], [[Nathan Leites]], Phil Davison and William Kaufmann, several of them colleagues from the Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service, used Leon Gouré, [[John Herz]] and [[Otto Kirchheimer]] as consultants, held a "Q" clearance, and opened a RAND office in Wiesbaden. In October 1960 the divisions were reorganized into departments, Goldhamer succeeded him, and Speier joined the Research Council (chairman 1961 to 1962).[^2][^5]
### Incorporation and Ford Loan
RAND was incorporated as an independent nonprofit on May 14, 1948. [[H. Rowan Gaither]] and Collbohm arranged the separation from [[Douglas Aircraft]] with a $100,000 interest-free loan and a $300,000 credit guarantee from [[Henry Ford II]] of the [[Ford Foundation]], plus a $150,000 Wells Fargo credit line; the loan was extended to $1,000,000 in 1950 and later converted to a grant. The Carnegie Corporation, the National Science Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation were among RAND's other early financial supporters.[^5]
RAND was incorporated as an independent nonprofit on May 14, 1948. [[H. Rowan Gaither]] and Collbohm arranged the separation from [[Douglas Aircraft]] with a $100,000 interest-free loan and a $300,000 credit guarantee from [[Henry Ford II]] of the [[Ford Foundation]], plus a $150,000 Wells Fargo credit line; the loan was extended to $1,000,000 in 1950 and later converted to a grant. The Carnegie Corporation, the National Science Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation were among RAND's other early financial supporters.[^6]
### Superstitions Study and Korea
The division issued Jean M. Hungerford's RM-365, "The Exploitation of Superstitions for Purposes of Psychological Warfare" (April 14, 1950, marked a working paper). It surveys superstition in wartime Germany (astrologers, fortune-tellers, chain letters, with a Security Service report of May 21, 1942 on chain letters translated in an appendix), in other belligerent countries and in the postwar Soviet Union and Eastern Europe; it records Goebbels's 1942 diary entries on counter-horoscopes and a plan for occultist propaganda, German agents posing as astrologers in France in 1940, and the OSS black radio program Operation Hermit, which used astrology and fortune-telling in broadcasts to Nanking. It proposes astrology and fortune-telling to predict dire events likely to befall the enemy, chain letters to burden the enemy postal system, and word-of-mouth rumors introduced by agents, and it states that the files of wartime "black" propagandists were not examined. Its sources include the FCC's weekly reports on Nazi propaganda for 1943 and early 1944, Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service Central European Analysis reports, and Kris and Speier's German Radio Propaganda.[^6]
The division issued Jean M. Hungerford's RM-365, "The Exploitation of Superstitions for Purposes of Psychological Warfare" (April 14, 1950, marked a working paper). It surveys superstition in wartime Germany (astrologers, fortune-tellers, chain letters, with a Security Service report of May 21, 1942 on chain letters translated in an appendix), in other belligerent countries and in the postwar Soviet Union and Eastern Europe; it records Goebbels's 1942 diary entries on counter-horoscopes and a plan for occultist propaganda, German agents posing as astrologers in France in 1940, and the OSS black radio program Operation Hermit, which used astrology and fortune-telling in broadcasts to Nanking. It proposes astrology and fortune-telling to predict dire events likely to befall the enemy, chain letters to burden the enemy postal system, and word-of-mouth rumors introduced by agents, and it states that the files of wartime "black" propagandists were not examined. Its sources include the FCC's weekly reports on Nazi propaganda for 1943 and early 1944, Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service Central European Analysis reports, and Kris and Speier's German Radio Propaganda.[^7]
After the outbreak of the Korean War a team including Goldhamer, George, Davison, Ewald Schnitzer and a Hungerford (Bessner writes "Jay Hungerford"; RM-365 is credited to Jean M. Hungerford, and records found do not establish whether they are the same person) visited Korea; from August 24, 1951, Goldhamer advised the American armistice delegation at Kaesong and circulated Speier's papers and Leites's The Operational Code of the Politburo (RAND, 1951) to the negotiators. Vice Admiral C. Turner Joy was reported to carry the Operational Code on helicopter trips.[^7]
After the outbreak of the Korean War a team including Goldhamer, George, Davison, Ewald Schnitzer and a Hungerford (Bessner writes "Jay Hungerford"; RM-365 is credited to Jean M. Hungerford, and records found do not establish whether they are the same person) visited Korea; from August 24, 1951, Goldhamer advised the American armistice delegation at Kaesong and circulated Speier's papers and Leites's The Operational Code of the Politburo (RAND, 1951) to the negotiators. Vice Admiral C. Turner Joy was reported to carry the Operational Code on helicopter trips.[^8]
### Early Psychological Work
@ -88,20 +96,21 @@ Rand's Santa Monica headquarters is described in accounts from the period as res
### Remote Viewing Era References
In accounts of the 1970s parapsychology research milieu, Rand is noted as larger and more prestigious than the [[Stanford Research Institute|SRI]] among scientific think tanks, and it figures in the French accounts of 1959 and 1960 of a [[The Nautilus (Telepathy Project)|USS Nautilus]] telepathy experiment, which the U.S. Navy denied and which a 1975 DIA study called rumors.[^8][^9]
In accounts of the 1970s parapsychology research milieu, Rand is noted as larger and more prestigious than the [[Stanford Research Institute|SRI]] among scientific think tanks, and it figures in the French accounts of 1959 and 1960 of a [[The Nautilus (Telepathy Project)|USS Nautilus]] telepathy experiment, which the U.S. Navy denied and which a 1975 DIA study called rumors.[^9][^10]
In Le Matin des magiciens, [[Jacques Bergier]] and [[Louis Pauwels]] wrote that at the beginning of 1957 the Rand Corporation laid before [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|President Eisenhower]] a report proposing telepathy for communicating with submarines, particularly under the polar ice cap, and that the report had no effect for a year. In the same chapter they list Rand among the organizations with parapsychology study laboratories, and a footnote cites a "Rapport de la Rand Corporation, 31 août 1958" in connection with a statement that the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission proposed in 1958 to use clairvoyants to guess where Russian bombs would fall.[^10] A report to Soviet Defense Minister [[Rodion Malinovsky]] of March 1960, as quoted by [[I. V. Tsykunov]], says that from the end of 1957 Rand, Westinghouse and Bell Telephone had been working intensively on telepathy.[^11]
In Le Matin des magiciens, [[Jacques Bergier]] and [[Louis Pauwels]] wrote that at the beginning of 1957 the Rand Corporation laid before [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|President Eisenhower]] a report proposing telepathy for communicating with submarines, particularly under the polar ice cap, and that the report had no effect for a year. In the same chapter they list Rand among the organizations with parapsychology study laboratories, and a footnote cites a "Rapport de la Rand Corporation, 31 août 1958" in connection with a statement that the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission proposed in 1958 to use clairvoyants to guess where Russian bombs would fall.[^11] A report to Soviet Defense Minister [[Rodion Malinovsky]] of March 1960, as quoted by [[I. V. Tsykunov]], says that from the end of 1957 Rand, Westinghouse and Bell Telephone had been working intensively on telepathy.[^12]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Peter Watson, *War on the Mind: The Military Uses and Abuses of Psychology*. Basic Books, 1978. pp. 388-394 (Ch. 21), 462-468 (App. II); Mai Elliott, *RAND in Southeast Asia: A History of the Vietnam War Era*. RAND CP-564, 2010; Anthony Russo, "Looking Backward: RAND and Vietnam," *Ramparts*, October 1972; RAND report series: RM-4507/3-ISA (March 1965), RM-4911-2-ISA/ARPA (1966), RM-5446-1-ISA/ARPA (October 1967), RM-5462-1 (November 1969), RM-6131-1 (September 1970).
[^2]: Daniel Bessner, "The Night Watchman: Hans Speier and the Making of the American National Security State" (PhD diss., Duke University, 2013), pp. 187-200 and notes 76-123; conference participants at p. 190 note 88; Rosten at pp. 190-191 note 89; Weaver at p. 192; Q clearance at p. 198. https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/232a76ac-f2d8-4827-99fe-50b3b109fa6c/content. Deutsche Biographie, "Speier, Hans" (sfz123260), and the University at Albany Speier Papers finding aid (GER-084) give the same RAND dates.
[^3]: Bessner, "The Night Watchman," introduction p. 13 (the OWI connection with Rosten; Speier recruited several of his Analysis Division colleagues to RAND), pp. 132-137 (February 1942 offer; Principal Political Analyst, November 1942; Acting Chief Analyst after Watson's departure, p. 137) and pp. 145-146 (transfer to the Overseas Operations Branch, May 22, 1944).
[^4]: Ernst Kris and Hans Speier, German Radio Propaganda (New York: Oxford University Press, 1944), Preface (work begun April 1, 1941).
[^5]: Bessner, "The Night Watchman," p. 187 note 76.
[^6]: RAND RM-365, Jean M. Hungerford, The Exploitation of Superstitions for Purposes of Psychological Warfare (April 14, 1950; ASTIA ATI 210637), full text at https://archive.org/details/1950-hungerford-exploitation-of-superstitions-for-purposes-of-psychological-warfare; rand.org record https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_memoranda/RM365.html. Bessner, "The Night Watchman," p. 201 note 128 (dates it April 15, 1950).
[^7]: Bessner, "The Night Watchman," pp. 205-207 and notes 145-150, citing Goldhamer, The 1951 Korean Armistice Conference: A Personal Memoir, and Robert C. Tucker's memoir for the Joy detail.
[^8]: Schnabel, Jim. *Remote Viewers*. Dell, 1997.
[^9]: Maire, Louis F., III, and J. D. LaMothe. *Soviet and Czechoslovakian Parapsychology Research*, DST-1810S-387-75, September 1975, CIA-RDP96-00787R000500420001-2, https://cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp96-00787r000500420001-2.
[^10]: Pauwels, Louis, and Jacques Bergier. *Le Matin des magiciens*, abridged and annotated university edition prepared by Yvonne Lenard with Monica Faulkner (Harper and Row, 1967), pp. 136-141.
[^11]: Tsykunov, I. V. "От фантазии к реальности: как история «Наутилуса» открыла гонку сверхъестественных вооружений между СССР и США" [From fantasy to reality: how the story of the Nautilus opened the race for supernatural weapons between the USSR and the USA]. Aliter, no. 20 (2023), pp. 34-55. https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/ot-fantazii-k-realnosti-kak-istoriya-nautilusa-otkryla-gonku-sverhestestvennyh-vooruzheniy-mezhdu-sssr-i-ssha. Sole source for the passages so cited.
[^3]: Bessner, "The Night Watchman," note 89 ("He came to RAND through Allen Wallis"); introduction, p. 13 ("a connection that Speier made at the OWI with Leo Rosten brought Speier to the RAND Corporation"). Sole source for the Rosten route.
[^4]: Bessner, "The Night Watchman," introduction p. 13 (the OWI connection with Rosten; Speier recruited several of his Analysis Division colleagues to RAND), pp. 132-137 (February 1942 offer; Principal Political Analyst, November 1942; Acting Chief Analyst after Watson's departure, p. 137) and pp. 145-146 (transfer to the Overseas Operations Branch, May 22, 1944).
[^5]: Ernst Kris and Hans Speier, German Radio Propaganda (New York: Oxford University Press, 1944), Preface (work begun April 1, 1941).
[^6]: Bessner, "The Night Watchman," p. 187 note 76.
[^7]: RAND RM-365, Jean M. Hungerford, The Exploitation of Superstitions for Purposes of Psychological Warfare (April 14, 1950; ASTIA ATI 210637), full text at https://archive.org/details/1950-hungerford-exploitation-of-superstitions-for-purposes-of-psychological-warfare; rand.org record https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_memoranda/RM365.html. Bessner, "The Night Watchman," p. 201 note 128 (dates it April 15, 1950).
[^8]: Bessner, "The Night Watchman," pp. 205-207 and notes 145-150, citing Goldhamer, The 1951 Korean Armistice Conference: A Personal Memoir, and Robert C. Tucker's memoir for the Joy detail.
[^9]: Schnabel, Jim. *Remote Viewers*. Dell, 1997.
[^10]: Maire, Louis F., III, and J. D. LaMothe. *Soviet and Czechoslovakian Parapsychology Research*, DST-1810S-387-75, September 1975, CIA-RDP96-00787R000500420001-2, https://cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp96-00787r000500420001-2.
[^11]: Pauwels, Louis, and Jacques Bergier. *Le Matin des magiciens*, abridged and annotated university edition prepared by Yvonne Lenard with Monica Faulkner (Harper and Row, 1967), pp. 136-141.
[^12]: Tsykunov, I. V. "От фантазии к реальности: как история «Наутилуса» открыла гонку сверхъестественных вооружений между СССР и США" [From fantasy to reality: how the story of the Nautilus opened the race for supernatural weapons between the USSR and the USA]. Aliter, no. 20 (2023), pp. 34-55. https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/ot-fantazii-k-realnosti-kak-istoriya-nautilusa-otkryla-gonku-sverhestestvennyh-vooruzheniy-mezhdu-sssr-i-ssha. Sole source for the passages so cited.