Intended for teachers of public diplomacy and related courses, here is an update on resources that may be of general interest. Suggestions for future updates are welcome.
Bruce Gregory can be reached at BGregory@gwu.edu
“America’s New Embassy in Beirut is Vast: But for Its Diplomats the Most Important Thing May Be To Leave It,” The Economist, May 20, 2023, 39. The new US embassy in Beirut covers more than 43 acres (second only to US embassy Baghdad). Surrounded by high concrete walls and barbed wire, it is projected to cost $1 billion. “Is it an embassy or a military base?” asks a Twitter observer. The Economist’s brief article provides a bit of history going back to the 1983 embassy bombing in Beirut and the fortress embassy logic of a report for the State Department by retired admiral Bobby Ray Inman. The new embassy’s size may signify America’s commitment to the Middle East, The Economist notes, “But the diplomats who work there will need to find a way to sally beyond its walls.” A longer narrative might have expressed the views of many US diplomats, including Ambassadors Ronald Neumann, Barbara Bodine, and Ryan Crocker, who question the risk aversion of political leaders “that has driven us into the bunker” and the US Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy’s 1985 report responding to Inman.
Phillip Arceneaux, “Popes as Public Diplomats: A Longitudinal Analysis of the Vatican’s Foreign Engagement and Storytelling,” International Journal of Communication 17 (2023), 3514-3536. Arceneaux (Miami University) covers a lot of ground in this analytically impressive and well-written article. His conceptual framework and literature review positions public diplomacy in the context of political uses of public relations, strategic narratives, and image and reputation management. He provides informative details on the unique political and religious identity of the Catholic Church, the dual role of the papacy, and the ascending role of the Pope as “the religious state’s primary public diplomat” beginning in the mid-twentieth century. The heart of the article is a qualitative textual and longitudinal analysis of strategic narratives in Vatican diplomacy between 1964 and 2021. Research questions include how papal foreign engagement (1) evolved in audience selection, (2) ranged geographically, and (3) was manifest in papal rhetoric. His answers are given in charts, tables, and clearly presented conclusions with careful attention to limitations and areas for further research. Attention to the travel, rhetoric, and personal public diplomacy of recent popes is a key strength of the article. Arceneaux’s study adds to a much longer history of connections between the Catholic Church, political power, and public diplomacy: the non-derogatory roots of the word propaganda in the Church’s “congregatio de propaganda fied” established in 1622 to propagate the Catholic faith, the language-competent and cross-culturally skilled Catholic missionaries who helped to advance French and Spanish imperial reach in the Americas, and the launch of Vatican Radio in 1931.
Mark L. Asquino, Spanish Connections: My Diplomatic Journey from Venezuela to Equitorial Guinea, (Xlibris US, 2023). US diplomat Mark Asquino’s memoir is a welcome addition to the rapidly growing collection of oral histories and memoirs now illuminating diplomatic study and practice. His account takes him from his childhood in Providence RI, a PhD at Brown University, time in Spain as a Fulbright lecturer on American literature to the US Foreign Service. A career that began in USIA, spanned public diplomacy assignments in Venezuela, Spain, Romania, Chile, and Uzbekistan, and appointments as deputy chief of mission in Kazakhstan and US ambassador in Equatorial Guinea. Asquino has a knack for telling a good story. Foreign Service heroes are identified; others are profiled obliquely. Lessons are drawn from encounters with each. His book is filled with experiences and strategies for coping with sharp and unexpected career turns—as well as good advice for junior officers navigating new terrain and rising professionals considering a career in the Foreign Service.
Martin Baron, “We Want Objective Judges and Doctors. Why Not Journalists, Too?” The Washington Post, March 26, 2023. Objectivity in journalism, government media, politics, diplomacy, and how we think about reality is a topic that is never settled. Two former executive editors of The Washington Post frame current debate. Leonard Downie, Jr. surveyed a growing belief in news rooms that “journalistic objectivity is a distortion of reality”—a concept that prevents reporting grounded in diverse experiences and points of view. The “news media must move beyond whatever ‘objectivity’ once meant to produce more trustworthy news” he argues. (“Newrooms That Move Beyond ‘Objectivity’ Can Build Trust.” The Washington Post, January 30, 2023). Martin Baron responds with a vigorous defense of an objectivity standard that is not neutrality, false balance, or the work of journalists without conscious and unconscious bias. Drawing on Walter Lippmann (Liberty and the News) and Tom Rosenstiel and Bill Kovach (The Elements of Journalism), Baron argues, “objectivity” lies in methods, standards, principles, not the individual. Failure to meet standards “does not render them outmoded. Rather it makes them more necessary.” Louis Menand covers similar ground in a historical assessment ranging from Walter Lippmann’s Public Opinion, to Cold War partnerships of some media organizations with the CIA, to the issues raised by Baron (“Making the Press, the State, and the State of the News,” The New Yorker, February 6, 2023, 59-65). The New York Times’ A.G. Sulzberger continues the debate in “Journalism’s Essential Value,” Columbia Journalism Review, May 15, 2023.
Ned Blackhawk, The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History, (Yale University Press, 2023). When diplomacy scholars consider the origins of US public diplomacy before the Cold War they typically look to Benjamin Franklin and other founders. As if it began with the turn of a switch in 1776. Yale historian Ned Blackhawk has written a powerful new book that traces five centuries of interactions—first between Native peoples and European settlers and then with the United States. This was a “mutually constitutive” relationship in which Natives had agency in diplomacy, trade, and warfare. Blackhawk builds on a generation of scholarship that treats American history as one of encounter and relationships rather than discovery. His book contains numerous examples of preferences for diplomacy and treaty-making on both sides that must be taken into account in addition to narratives of violence and dispossession. Missing in the literature on US diplomacy’s public dimension is the foundational importance of the cross-cultural blend of diplomatic practices that emerged in the Americas during the century and a half before US statehood.
Anthony M. Eames, A Voice in Their Own Destiny: Reagan, Thatcher, and Public Diplomacy in the Nuclear 1980s, (University of Massachusetts Press, 2023). Anthony Eames is director of scholarly initiatives at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. He also teaches at George Washington University. In this carefully researched book, he explores how President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher used public diplomacy to build support for nuclear deterrence policies in the face of countervailing pressures of antinuclear movements in Europe. It is an informative account that drills deep, not wide. It places public diplomacy in the context of a single important issue, in the events of a single decade, and in the way it was understood and used by national leaders and their advisors. Eames shows how public diplomacy mattered in achieving policy outcomes. His book also demonstrates how the sustained attention of national leaders can make a positive difference in support for public diplomacy’s organizations, budgets, and technologies. His focus is state-centric, but he is open to broader perspectives. Of particular interest, is Eames’s attention to differences between what he calls “private science diplomacy” between scientists, officials, and military leaders and “public science diplomacy” in which communication strategies are used to leverage the expertise of scientists to shape attitudes among foreign and domestic publics.
“Focus on Public Diplomacy—The Cold War and Beyond,” The Foreign Service Journal, May 2023. The lead article in this month’s FSJ features “Up Close with American Exhibit Guides to the Soviet Union, 1959-1991,” an overview by FSJ editor Shawn Dorman that includes numerous photos and interviews with nine former guides: Jane M. Picker, Tom Robertson, John Herbst, Rose Gottemoeller, Mike Hurley, Kathleen Rose, Allan Mustard, Laura Kennedy, and John Beyrle. Mark G. Pomar’s ( ) “Broadcasting Behind the (Opening) Iron Curtain” builds on his recently published Cold War Radio: The Russian Broadcasts of the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Matthew Asada (a US Foreign Service Officer assigned to USC’s Center on Public Diplomacy) writes about “The Journey to Expo 2020 Dubai and Its Legacy.”
“The Global Information Wars: Is the U.S. Winning or Losing,” Hearing before the US Senate Subcommittee on State Department and USAID Management, May 3, 2023. In a Senate Foreign Relation Subcommittee hearing chaired by Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) with ranking member Bill Hagerty (R-TN). A 2-hour video is available at the link. Witnesses and statements include:
· Statement of Amanda Bennett, (CEO, US Agency for Global Media)
· David Stillwell, (Air Force Academy Institute for Future Conflict)
· Statement of Christopher Walker, (National Endowment for Democracy)
· Statement of Jessica Brandt, (Brookings Institution)
Natalia Grincheva, “The Past and Future of Cultural Diplomacy,” International Journal of Cultural Policy, published online March 6, 2023. Is “cultural diplomacy” a sub-field within public diplomacy, a strategic tool of governmental practice in the conduct of foreign affairs, or perhaps a synonym for soft power? Or is it, as Natalia Grincheva (University of Melbourne) maintains in this thought-provoking article, “an independent academic discipline” with maturing research and growing acceptance? Her claim, intended as a conversation opener, is grounded in a review of the literature since the 1960s using the single search term “cultural diplomacy” in the Scopus database. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, her article discusses the geographic distribution of the literature based on authors’ academic affiliations, varieties of themes, old and new research topics, and the roles, functions, and tools of cultural diplomacy actors. Grincheva’s research provides further evidence of growing interest in the societization of diplomacy and its hybrid domains. It also generates worthwhile questions, stated and implied, about cultural diplomacy as an epistemic field and how it and diplomacy more broadly are circumscribed in human relationships.
Yana Gorokhovskaia, Adrian Shahbaz, and Amy Slipowitz, Freedom in the World 2023: Marking 50 Years in the Struggle for Democracy, Freedom House, March 2023. Two key findings stand out in Freedom House’s latest report on political rights and civil liberties. Global freedom declined for the 17thstraight year. The struggle for democracy may be reaching a turning point. The gap between countries that showed a decline and those that improved was the smallest since the deterioration began. The report contains its usual discussion of significant developments, illuminating graphics, statement of methods, and policy recommendations. Particular attention is given to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (categorized as “partly free”). Other highlighted findings point to opportunities for democratization in the mistakes and corruption of authoritarian leaders, and continued infringement on freedom of expression and attacks on journalists as drivers of democratic decline. Detailed policy recommendations are discussed on Freedom House’s website.
Geoff Heriot, International Broadcasting and Its Contested Role in Australian Statecraft: Middle Power, Smart Power, (Anthem Press, 2023). Geoff Heriot’s career spanned work as a journalist, foreign correspondent, and head of news and current affairs for Radio Australia, an advisor to the South African Broadcasting Corporation, and a capstone role as chief of planning and governance for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). His book, based on post-career doctoral research, is a much-needed assessment of international broadcasting by a “middle power” in a literature dominated by books on global broadcasting by the UK, US, Russia, and China. Heriot’s first six chapters construct an analytical framework for understanding international broadcasting as an instrument of statecraft, which he situates in discourse on “soft-hard-smart power.” The second six chapters apply his framework to Radio Australia’s experience during the 1980s and the end of the Cold War. An insightful Foreword by Geoffrey Wiseman (DePaul University) discusses the strengths of Heriot’s narrative in the context of Australian politics, middle power statecraft, and discourse on soft power and public diplomacy. The book demonstrates “ex post facto participant observation at its best,” he observes, by a practitioner’s “critical reflection, synthesis and evaluation that spare[s] no institution or actor from criticism, including himself.” Wiseman calls this “retrospective ethnography.” A revised version of the Foreword, “The Relevance of Soft Power Thinking in Democratic Statecraft,” April 28, 2023, is on the USC Center on Public Diplomacy’s CPD Blog.
“The Lawfare Podcast: Cybersecurity and AI,” April 3, 2023. In this hour-long podcast, Lawfare’s Benjamin Wittes talks with Alex Stamos (Stanford Internet Observatory), Nicole Perlroth (formerly with The New York Times), and Dave Willner (OpenAI) about issues in cybersecurity and AI. In discourse intended for non-specialists, the panel discusses threats to and from AI algorithms, the meaning of large language models, threats from their misuse by humans, threats from the use of AI in disinformation campaigns, and the roles of government and the private sector. For an optimist’s view on AI, see Orly Lobel, The Equality Machine: Harnessing Digital Technology for a Brighter, More Inclusive Future (2022). For a contrasting view from a deeply concerned technology enthusiast, see Thomas L. Friedman, “Our New Promethean Moment,” The New York Times, March 21, 2023. And for a thought-provoking discussion of AI by Stanford humanities professors Robert Harrison and Ana Lievska—described as “teachers of the hard-earned old wisdom of books” who are “humbled” and “scared” “users of AI in the classroom”—listen to the “Failing Intelligence” podcast on Christopher Lydon’s Radio Open Source.
James Pamment, Alicia Fjällhed, and Martina Smedberg, “The ‘Logics’ of Public Diplomacy: In Search of What Unites a Multidisciplinary Research Field,” The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, online publication, April 13, 2023. In this imaginative and deeply researched article, the authors (University of Lund) explore the ongoing challenge of theorizing “the fuzzy concept of public diplomacy.” They construct “a new approach to conceptualizing PD” grounded in a “theory of PD logics” and a capacious literature review. By logics, they mean constructs that help to show how and why themes from different disciplines are expressed in studies of PD rather than imported as standard characteristics from those disciplines. They identify seven. (1) A “diplomacy logic” at the nexus between political science and communication studies. (2) A “media logic” that focuses on “advocacy, strategic communication, media production, public affairs, news management, international broadcasting and campaigns—including use of social media—as part of objective-driven PD.” (3) A “relational logic” centered on formal and informal networks of people and ideas. (4) A “promotional logic” connected to brand promotion, trade, tourism, and national image. (5) A “security logic” tied to warfare, geopolitics, counter-extremism, defense and security policies. (6) An “organizational logic” looks at structures, management, coordination, objectives, and evaluation in foreign and domestic networks. (7) A “legitimization logic” encompasses definitions, norms, values, and boundaries of PD as a research field. There is much to consider in this article, which could serve as a conversational starting point for many a seminar or panel discussion. Consider just two. Should PD be viewed as a separate category of study and practice or a central element in diplomacy and the daily lives of diplomatic actors? What are the relative merits of theorizing PD “at a step removed from practice” and using practice as a means to theorize diplomacy?
“Review of the U.S. Agency for Global Media Response to Russia’s 2022 Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine,” Office of Inspector General (OIG), Department of State, May 2023. The OIG’s generally positive review found “early and continuous planning” by USAGM’s networks ensured and, in some cases, expanded content availability to Ukrainian and Russian speaking audiences. USAGM also adequately executed relocation of staff at the war’s onset. The OIG made four recommendations relating to inadequate tracking and review of hiring processes by USAGM, VOA, and RFE/RL; lack of compliance with VOA’s editorial review standards by its Russian language staff; and improvement of guidance for grantee organizations on distribution of supplemental Ukraine related appropriations.
Nahal Toosi and Rosa Prince, “‘Preposterous’ But ‘Loved’ It: A Guide to Netflix’s ‘The Diplomat,’” May 3, 2023, Politico. Entertainment products that reflect collaboration with US military services are ubiquitous and don’t make the cut for this list. But a Netflix series on career diplomats in US Embassy London starring Keri Russell and Rufus Sewel is too good to pass up. Careerists will find lots of details to critique. Nevertheless, “There’s a lot of detail in there that’s really, really smart,” observes London embassy spokesperson Aaron Snipe. It’s a view that seems to be widely shared. After all it’s not a documentary; its entertainment. See also Natalie Prieb, “US Embassy in UK Fact-checks “The Diplomat,” May 2, 2023, The Hill; Mike Hale, “‘The Diplomat’ Review: Save the Marriage, Save the World,” The New York Times, April 19, 2023; Alexis Soloki, “In the ‘Diplomat’ Keri Russell Shows Her Good Side,” April 18, 2023, The New York Times, and “‘The Diplomat’ Realistically Portrays Practices Dating Back Centuries,” The Washington Post, May 24, 2023.For US Ambassador to the UK Jane D. Hartley’s critique, see Mark Landler, “At the Real Embassy, Netflix’s ‘Diplomat’ Draws a Diplomatic Response,” The New York Times, May 15, 2023.
US Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, “Future(s) of USG Public Diplomacy,” ACPD Official Meeting Minutes, January 25, 2023. At its first quarterly meeting in 2023, the Commission presented its 2022 Comprehensive Annual Report on Public Diplomacy and International Broadcasting and convened a panel of State Department practitioners to look at future directions of US public diplomacy. Moderated by the Commission’s executive director Vivian Walker, the panel looked at challenges driven by the rise of authoritarianism, an increase in extremist and foreign government information campaigns, and ways to compete in today’s media ecosystem. Panelists included: Rodney Ford, Senior Advisor and Executive Assistant, Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs; Elizabeth Trudeau, Acting Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Global Public Affairs; Scott Weinhold, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs; Karl Stoltz, Deputy Coordinator for Policy, Programs, and Operations, Global Engagement Center; and Paul Kruchoski, Director, Office of Policy, Planning, and Resources.
US Agency for Global Media, 2022 Annual Report, April 2023. USAGM’s 48-page annual report provides descriptive information on the purposes and activities of its five networks: Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB), Radio Free Asia (RFA), and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN). USAGM’s annual reports, filled with photos, graphics, and statistics, provide useful basic information on its current activities through the public relations lens of its CEO and senior managers. Perspectives on USAGM’s strategic planning, strengths and limitations, and areas for improvement can be found elsewhere—in USAGM’s five year strategic plans and in reviews by the State Department’s Inspector General, the US Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, and independent observers.
US Office of Special Counsel (OSC), “Review of Management Actions June 2020-January 2021, February 2023” [Independent report on activities of former US Agency for Global Media CEO Michael Pack]. This 145-page report, transmitted with a letter from OSC Special Counsel Henry J. Kerner to President Biden on May 10, 2023, documents “major findings of wrongdoing” during the eight-month tenure of Trump-appointed, Senate-confirmed CEO Michael Pack. Major findings include: abuse of authority, whistleblower retaliation against career USAGM executives, violation of federal recordkeeping regulations, violations of the Privacy Act, contracting irregularities, wasteful expenditure of public funds, abusive disbarment of the Open Technology Fund, abusive changes to grantee network governance, and actions inconsistent with USAGM’s “firewall.” The report was written by Dan G. Blair, former Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management, Michael Cushing, former senior executive, Export-Import Bank and Office of Personnel Management, and investigative journalist Nick Schwellenbach. A lengthy letter from Pack, printed in the report, rejects its findings, questions the OSC’s constitutionality and political bias, and argues the “firewall” at USAGM “is a “myth.” See also David Folkenflik, “Federal Inquiry Details Abuses of Power by Trump’s CEO over Voice of America,” NPR, May 21, 2023; Jessica Jerreat, “Government Report Finds Former USAGM CEO Abused Authority, Wasted $1.6 Million in Funds,” VOA News, May 10, 2023.
Recent Items of Interest
Matt Armstrong, “Time to Resurrect the Global Engagement Caucus in the House,” May 3, 2023; “A Look at the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: A Historical Look at the Politics of US Information Warfare,” April 14, 2023, MountainRunner.
Andrea Bodine, “Biden Administration’s FY24 Budget Request: Proposed Exchanges Funding Explained,” March 15, 2023, Alliance for International Exchange.
Simon Hankinson, “‘Woke’ Public Diplomacy Undermines the State Department’s Core Mission and Weakens U.S. Foreign Policy,” December 12, 2023, The Heritage Foundation.
Andrew Hyde and Evan Cooper, “Proposing a US Diplomatic Posture Review,” March 9, 2023, Stimson Policy Memo.
Robert Gates, “The U.S. Needs to Relearn How to Tell Its Story to the World,” April 16, 2023; Letters to the Editor [John S. Williams, Mark A. Green, Kim Andrew Elliott], April 21, 2023, The Washington Post; Matt Armstrong, “Knowing Why Is Far More Important [Than] Learning How,” MountainRunner.
Josh A. Goldstein and Girish Sastry, “The Coming of Age of AI-Powered Propaganda,” April 7, 2023, Foreign Affairs.
“It Is Getting Even Harder for Western Scholars To Do Research in China,” April 5, 2023, The Economist.
César Jiménez‑Martínez, “Foreign Correspondents and Public Diplomacy: An Understudied Relationship,” May 4, 2023, USC Center on Public Diplomacy, CPD Blog.
Gabe Kaminsky, “Biden State Department Spending Ten of Thousands to Thwart ‘Disinformation’ in Uganda,” March 7 2023, The Washington Examiner.
Ian Klaus, “How Mayors and City Leaders Are Reshaping Foreign Policy,” April 20, 2023, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Joshua Kurlantzick, ”Beijing’s Campus Offensive,” April 6, 2023, Quillette.
“Lessons from ‘Cold War Radio’: A Conversation with Mark Pomar,” March 21, 2023, Russia File Podcast, Wilson Center.
Joe Lieberman and Gordon Humphrey, “How America Can Win the Information War,” March 17, 2023, The Wall Street Journal.
Sayyara Mammadova and Nika Aleksejeva, “Networks of pro-Kremlin Telegram Channels Spread Disinformation at a Global Scale,” March 1, 2023, DFRLab.
Peter Mandaville and Julia Schiwal, “The U.S. Strategy for International Religious Engagement: 10 Years On,”May 23, 2023, US Institute of Peace.
Ilan Manor, “The AI Moves In: ChatGPT’s Impact on Digital Diplomacy,” March 10, 2023, CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy.
“Many of China’s Top Politicians Were Educated in the West: It Did Not Endear Them To It.” March 11, 2023, The Economist.
Andrew Moore, “How AI Could Revolutionize Diplomacy,” March 21, 2023, Foreign Policy.
“Moscow Ramps Up Pressure on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty,” March 14, 2023, VOA News.
W. Robert Pearson, “The New Age of Diplomacy Requires Heightened Expertise and Foresight,” April 24, 2023, The Hill.
J. Peter Pham, “US Power Abroad: Development, ‘Soft’ Power, and Washington Conservatives,” March 29, 2023, The Hill.
Caitlyn Phung, “‘Youth Ambassador’ Got a Taste of Diplomacy at Dubai Expo,” March 5, 2023, Diplomatic Diary.
Jimmy Quinn, “House GOP Suspects Biden Admin ‘Censorship’ of Voice of America Over Favoritism Scandal,” March 6, 2023, National Review.
Carmen Sesin and Orlando Matos, “Between the U.S. and Cuba, More Cultural Exchanges and Engagement Signal a Modest Shift in Policy,” March 7, 2023, NBC News.
Mihir Sharma, “The West is Losing the Messaging War Over Ukraine,” March 6, 2023, The Washington Post.
Tara Sonenshine, “The World is Watching America’s Battle Over Gun Rights,” May 15, 2023, The Hill.
“Suspected North Korean Spies Impersonating VOA, Other Reporters Online,” March 30, 2023, VOA News.
Zed Tarar, “Analysis | Could AI Change the Business of Diplomacy?” February 23, 2023; “Analysis | Which AI Tools Should Diplomats Use Today?” February 27, 2023, ISD, The Diplomatic Pouch.
Jon Temin, “The U.S. Doesn’t Need Another Democracy Summit,” March 27, 2023, Foreign Affairs.
Earl Anthony Wayne, “Mexico’s Democracy Matters—To Mexico and America,” March 12, 2023, The Hill.
Gem From The Past
Colin G. Calloway, Pen and Ink Witchcraft: Treaties and Treaty Making in American Indian History (Oxford University Press, 2013); James H. Merrell, Into the American Woods: Negotiators on the Pennsylvania Frontier (W. W. Norton, 1999). Beginning about fifty years ago, academics began with increasing force to challenge the traditional American story of a nation born of European discovery and expansion. The shift by scholars to the optic of Native-newcomer interrelations is largely the work of historians, not IR and diplomacy scholars. The extent to which a similar change is occurring in elementary and secondary school education is unclear. Two books in the historical literature standout. Colin Calloway’s Pen and Ink Witchcraft shows how the state-based diplomacy methods of Europeans problematically differed from rituals and ceremonial diplomatic practices developed over many centuries by Native tribes. Eventually, he argues, “European and Native American traditions and practices melded to produce a new, uniquely American form of cross-cultural diplomacy.” James Merrell’s Into the American Woods is a compelling deep dive into the roles of “go-betweens” in forest diplomacy on the Pennsylvania frontier from the 1680s to the 1750s. Publics were objects of their diplomacy and essential participants in the ceremonies, rituals, speech making, and gift exchanges required to maintain alliances and trade agreements.
An archive ofDiplomacy’s Public Dimension: Books, Articles, Websites (2002-present) is maintained at George Washington University’s Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication. Current issues are also posted by the University of Southern California’s Center on Public Diplomacy, and the Public Diplomacy Council of America.