The United States And Public Diplomacy

Presenting the latest historical research on public diplomacy, this book highlights the fact that the United States has not only been an important sponsor of public diplomacy, it also has been a frequent target of public diplomacy initiatives sponsored by others.

There is much discussion these days about public diplomacy—communicating directly with the people of other countries rather than through their diplomats—but little information about what it actually entails. This book does exactly that by detailing the doings of a US Foreign Service cultural officer in five hot spots of the Cold War - Germany, Laos, Poland, Austria, and the Soviet Union - as well as service in Washington DC with the State Department, the Helsinki Commission of the US Congress, and the National Endowment for Democracy. Part history, part memoir, it takes readers into the trenches of the Cold War and demonstrates what public diplomacy can do. It also provides examples of what could be done today in countries where anti-Americanism runs high.

This book presents a comprehensive framework, six pathways of connection, which explains the impact of public diplomacy on achieving foreign policy goals. The comparative study of three important public diplomacy practitioners with distinctive challenges and approaches shows the necessity to move beyond soft power to appreciate the role of public diplomacy in global politics. Through theoretical discussions and case studies, six pathways of connection is presented as a framework to design new public diplomacy projects and measure their impact on foreign policy.

Grounded in public relations theory and steeped in common sense, this book advances the global debate on public diplomacy's future in rejecting a power-based, political approach to public diplomacy and proposing a relational framework designed to improve relationships among nations and peoples.

Proponents of American public diplomacy sometimes find it difficult to be taken seriously. Everyone says nice things about relying less on military force and more on soft power. But it has been hard to break away from the longtime conventional wisdom that America owes its place in the world primarily to its muscle. Today, however, policy makers are recognizing that merely being a "superpower" - whatever that means now - does not ensure security or prosperity in a globalized society. Toward a New Public Diplomacy explains public diplomacy and makes the case for why it will be the crucial element in the much-needed reinvention of American foreign policy.

Public diplomacy describes a government¿s efforts to conduct foreign policy and promote national interests through direct outreach and commun. with the population of a foreign country. Activities include providing info. to foreign publics through broadcast and Internet media and at libraries and other outreach facilities in foreign countries; conducting cultural diplomacy, such as art exhibits and music performances; and admin. internat. educational and professional exchange programs. This report discusses the issues concerning U.S. public diplomacy. Determining levels of public diplomacy funding. Establishing capabilities to improve monitoring and assessment of public diplomacy activities. Charts and tables.

Empire of Ideas examines the origins of the U. S. government's programs in public diplomacy and how the nation's image in the world became an essential component of U. S. foreign policy.

Throughout the twentieth century governments came to increasingly appreciate the value of soft power to help them achieve their foreign policy ambitions. Covering the crucial period between 1936 and 1953, this book examines the U.S. government’s adoption of diplomatic programs that were designed to persuade, inform, and attract global public opinion in support of American national interests. Cultural diplomacy and international information were deeply controversial to an American public that been bombarded with propaganda during the First World War. This book explains how new notions of propaganda as reciprocal exchange, cultural engagement, and enlightening information paved the way for innovations in U.S. diplomatic practice. Through a comparative analysis of the State Department’s Division of Cultural Relations, the government radio station Voice of America, and the multilateral cultural, educational and scientific diplomacy of Unesco, and drawing extensively on U.S. foreign policy archives, this book shows how America’s liberal traditions were reconciled with the task of influencing and attracting publics abroad.