STRATEGIC STORYTELLING: U.S. ANNUAL REPORTS ARE TOOLS FOR GLOBAL NARRATIVE CONTROL

By recognizing how Washington weaponizes information through these annual publications, India can better protect its narrative sovereignty while selectively leveraging American documentation when interests align.

- BRIJESH SINGH

In the shadowy corridors of global power politics, documents often wield more influence than missiles; this truth has been reaffirmed by the recently released “2025 Annual Report to Congress” by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

This report—sending ripples through security circles in India—has illuminated not merely explosive claims about China’s role in the May 2025 India-Pakistan clash, but something more profound: America’s sophisticated machinery of strategic communication. Like a master weaver crafting tapestries from invisible threads, Washington transforms bureaucratic documents into instruments of narrative warfare.

BEYOND INTELLIGENCE: THE ART OF 'PAPER WEAPONS'

For Indian readers navigating an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape, understanding how America crafts and deploys such documents isn’t merely useful—it’s essential. The USCC report joins a constellation of American publications—the State Department’s annual “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,” the “International Religious Freedom Report,” “Internet Freedom Reports,” and others—that function less as neutral assessments and more as strategic tools designed to shape global perceptions, build coalitions, and pressure adversaries. These documents represent what scholars call “paper weapons”—non-kinetic instruments of statecraft that often achieve more than military deployments.

OPERATION SINDOOR: NARRATIVE ENGINEERING IN ACTION