Military history, PSYOP & the power of information in conflict
Mervyn Roberts is a military historian whose research examines psychological operations, propaganda, and the history of influence in conflict. His work combines archival research and historical GIS with the perspective of U.S. Army service in Operation Desert Storm, Somalia, and two Afghanistan tours as a PSYOP Team Leader and Detachment NCOIC.
Quang Nam Province, December 1967 — original GIS analysis. Explore Maps & GIS →
Research grounded in experience and evidence
From Vietnam-era propaganda broadcasts to contemporary influence operations, this work brings primary sources, military history, and geographic analysis together to examine how information shapes conflict.
Credentials & military experience
Scholarly reviews
“Deeply researched, richly illustrated, and well-written.”
American Historical Review“An authoritative study” of an often-overlooked dimension of the conflict.
Michigan War Studies ReviewRoberts “has forged a new path” in examining the Vietnam War.
Journal of American HistoryAreas of research
01 / Vietnam War & PSYOP
Psychological operations, propaganda campaigns, counterinsurgency, and the contest for influence in Vietnam, 1960–1968.
02 / U.S. History
American political and military history, including communism and anti-communism in the United States, Revolutionary-era propaganda, the Texas Colored Infantry, and Reconstruction.
03 / Propaganda & information warfare
Russian and Chinese influence, strategic messaging, and the political use of information.
04 / GIS & historical analysis
Mapping archival and operational datasets to reveal patterns difficult to see in documents alone.
05 / Iran & Central Asia
Persian history, propaganda, political influence, and the wider regional context.
06 / Military history
Military institutions, operations, doctrine, and the relationship between military action and information.
Original sources. Original analysis.
Contemporary documents, archival imagery, and original spatial analysis offer ways to investigate the Vietnam War beyond the published narrative.
Geographic Information Systems: maps, data & video
The Vietnam War GIS work combines documentary sources with digitized operational datasets and spatial analysis. The Maps & GIS page presents original map examples and the video series. The GIS resources page provides project downloads, including NARA documentation, topographic files, regional data, Vietnam War-era shapefiles, project styles, Hamlet Evaluation System files, and Theater History of Operations (THOR) data for 1965–1973.
Books & publications
The Psychological War for Vietnam, 1960–1968
A study of American psychological operations in Vietnam and the wider contest between American, North Vietnamese, NLF, and South Vietnamese propaganda programs.
Propaganda and Influence: Russia and China Targeting of America
An examination of Russian and Chinese propaganda and the changing influence environment facing the United States.
Military service & research background
Roberts served in Operation Desert Storm (1991) and Operation Continue Hope in Somalia (1993). He later completed two Afghanistan tours as a PSYOP Team Leader and Detachment NCOIC with the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force–Afghanistan.
He holds a PhD in History from the University of North Texas. This combination of military service and academic research informs his study of how military organizations communicate, how information shapes conflict, and how operations can be understood through contemporary records.
Research, speaking & professional inquiries
For questions about publications, research, presentations, or collaboration, contact Mervyn Roberts.