CIA/International Organizations Division

Division of the CIA set up in 1950 to control psychological warfare operations. Its first head was Tom Braden.

The IOD operated according to the same principles that guided Wisner's management of the Non-Communist Left. The purpose of supporting leftist groups was not to destroy or even to dominate, but rather to maintain a discreet proximity to and monitor the thinking of such groups; to provide them with a mouthpiece so that they could blow off steam; and, in extremis, to exercise a final veto on their publicity and possibly their actions if they ever got too 'radical'. Braden issued clear instructions to his newly established IOD posts in Europe: 'Limit the money to amounts private organisations can credibly spend; disguise the extent of American interest; protect the integrity of the organisation by not requiring it to support every aspect of official American policy.'

IOD operations

• Congress for Cultural Freedom