# NSDD-77 **Domain:** U.S. national security / Public diplomacy **Doc Type:** Developed Policy Document Node **Maturity:** Developed **Collection:** [[collections/Gamification|Gamification Collection]] ## Definition **National Security Decision Directive 77 (NSDD-77)**, signed by President Ronald Reagan in January 1983, established a coordinated U.S. government framework for international public diplomacy. It organized interagency work across public affairs, international information, international political activities, and international broadcasting. ## Significance NSDD-77 is a primary-source anchor for the institutional coordination of narrative, policy explanation, broadcasting, and political communication during the late Cold War. It demonstrates that perception-oriented state activity can be administratively structured without implying that every public message is covert or false. The directive should be read in its historical and legal setting. Public diplomacy, public affairs, propaganda, covert action, and psychological operations overlap in some aims but differ in authority, audience, attribution, and method. ## Sources - Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, [NSDD-77: Management of Public Diplomacy Relative to National Security](https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/public/2020-09/40-654-209248065-001-007-2020.pdf) - Reagan Library, [NSDD digitized reference copies](https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/reagans/reagan-administration/nsdd-digitized-reference-copies) ## Routes [[wiki/Perception Management|Perception Management]] · [[wiki/Strategic Communications|Strategic Communications]] · [[wiki/Reflexive Control|Reflexive Control]] · [[wiki/Cold War Game Theory|Cold War Game Theory]]