Issue #39

Carol BalassaAmerica’s Image Abroad: The UNESCO Cultural Diversity Convention and U.S. Motion Picture Exports, Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy. Vanderbilt University, 2008. Balassa (Office of the U.S. Trade Representative) in this 69-page report examines the U.S. response to the “Convention on the Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions,” which was adopted in UNESCO and the WTO and negotiated through the efforts of a consortium of cultural ministers led by Canada and France. Balassa discusses cultural and trade objectives of interested parties, the U.S. government’s inattention to the negotiations and implications of the Convention, issues linked to the “anti-Americanism embedded in the . . . Convention,” and the complex role of motion picture exports as both a positive instrument of trade and public diplomacy and a symbol of what is disliked about U.S. policies and culture. She recommends a shift from traditional “‘outreach’ public diplomacy programs involving U.S. films intended to convey the virtues of American democracy” to an approach that reflects respect for the cultural output of others and focuses on providing filmmakers outside the U.S. with the opportunity to be heard.

Philip BobbittTerror and Consent: The Wars for the Twenty-First Century, (Alfred A. Knopf, 2008). Bobbitt (Columbia University) follows his The Shield of Achilles (2002) with a penetrating inquiry into the nature of governance, liberty, violence, and strategy in the 21st century. Although it is not a book about strategic communication and public diplomacy, it is about the world in which these instruments are being transformed. In this massive volume Bobbitt develops his ideas about legitimacy, consent, market states, the Internet, terrorism as a byproduct of globalization, and the adverse consequences of U.S. disdain for international law. In his “Connectivity Paradox” — one idea among many of interest to public diplomacy scholars and practitioners — Bobbitt argues that the scope and speed of electronic connectivity, an engine of both wealth creation and increased vulnerability, have “not freed us from our need to coordinate and learn in person.”

Catherine Dale, Nina Seragino, and Pat TowellOrganizing the U.S. Government for National Security: Overview of the Interagency Reform Debates, CRS Report for Congress, April 18, 2008, 1-16. In this brief report, CRS analysts look at the current debate on how well the U.S. government is organized “to apply all instruments of national power to national security activities” six decades after the National Security Act of 1947. The report identifies current reform studies, outlines problems, and summarizes proposed reforms. Problems discussed include limited civilian agency capacity, too large a role for the Department of Defense, insufficient interagency coordination and integration mechanisms, lack of rigor in national security decision-making, insufficient strategy-making guidelines, a mismatch between resources and strategy, and poorly structured Congressional oversight. The report will be updated as events warrant.

Jan EggertContinuity and Change in U.S. Patterns of Public Diplomacy in Post-Reunification Germany: Identifying New Traditions in a Changing World, MA Thesis, Martin Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg, Germany, December 13, 2007. Eggert’s thesis examines definitions of public diplomacy and associated concepts, U.S. public diplomacy after the Cold War, and U.S. public diplomacy in Germany. The latter chapter includes brief sections on public diplomacy training and the closing of the America Houses in Germany. Eggert concludes with a thoughtful discussion of the growing importance to public diplomacy of networking and outreach to non-state actors. His bibliography contains a rich mix of U.S. and European public diplomacy literature. A copy of the thesis in pdf format may be obtained from the author at jan.eggert@yahoo.de.

John L. Esposito and Dalia MogahedWho Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think, (Gallup Press, 2007). Esposito (Georgetown University) and Mogahed (Gallup Center for Muslim Studies) draw on a multi-year Gallup research study to assess Muslim views on a variety of issues. Among many questions discussed: Who are Muslims? What do Muslims believe and value? Is Islam compatible with democracy? What makes a radical? How much support is there for terrorism? What do Muslim women truly want? What are effective ways to advocate for Muslim women’s empowerment? Is the key to “what should be done . . . military action or a policy to win minds and hearts?”

Lee H. Hamilton, Bruce Hoffman, Brian Michael Jenkins, Paul R. Pillar, Xavier Raufer, Walter Reich, and Fernando Reinares“Making the Grade: From A – F, How the U.S. Measures Up In Its Struggle Against Global Extremism.” The National Interest, March/April, 2008, 12-15. Seven experts assign letter grades to nine overall goals and 61 objectives. They give a D + for what they call “countering conspiracy theories and anti-Americanism with overt and/or covert public diplomacy [sic].”

Najm Jarrah“First Look: Watching BBC Arabic TV,” Arab Media & Society, May 2008. Jarrah, a London based Arab journalist and former head of the Arab Media Unit at the University of London, provides an overview of the history, programming content, and early reception of the UK’s Arabic language satellite TV network funded by the British Foreign Office. Jarrah discusses perceptions by many in the Arab world that BBC Arabic TV would be a more subtle substitute for the “acknowledged failure” of the U.S. Al Hurra. He concludes that it will take time for BBC Arabic to compete in the crowded Arabic media and that its role will depend on the performance of such competitors as Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera.

Daniel KimmageThe Al-Qaeda Media Nexus: The Virtual Network Behind the Global Message, RFE/RL Special Report, March 2008. Kimmage, until recently a senior analyst with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, argues that Al Qaeda’s use of the Internet for recruitment and advocacy purposes is threatened by the Web’s “new era of user-generated content.” Al Qaeda and its affiliates are stuck in Web 1.0 while the world moves to Web 2.0, because they “fear the intrusion of free-thinking, content generating individuals, they maintain strict message control.” Kimmage contends they resemble “the stodgy structures of traditional mainstream media” in a world “run wild with self-created content and interactivity.” See also LINK.

Andrew Kohut and Richard Wilke“All the World’s a Stage,” The National Interest, May/June 2008, 56-62. The Director and Associate Director of the Pew Global Attitudes Project summarize key findings of Pew’s study of America’s declining image from 2002 – 2007. Their conclusion: “Simply put, America’s image in much of the Muslim world remains abysmal.” Pew surveyed 47 countries. In nine countries, less than 30 percent of the population gave the U.S. favorable ratings. Turkey leads with the lowest favorable score (9%) followed by Palestinian Territories (13%), Pakistan (15%), Morocco (15%), Argentina (16%), Jordan (20%), Egypt (21%), Malaysia (27%), and Indonesia (29%). The study also found that support for terrorism has declined dramatically in many Muslim countries, that fewer Muslims consider suicide bombing justifiable, and that confidence in Osama bin Laden has declined.

Ali MolennarLiterature on Public Diplomacy, Netherlands Institute of International Relations, Clingendael, May 2008. Clingendael’s Library and Documentation Centre has compiled an extensive list of public diplomacy resources. Additions to the list are invited. The Centre also has compiled lists on branding, city diplomacy, human rights, and other topics. See also LINK.

Allen W. Palmer and Edward L. Carter“The Smith-Mundt Act’s Ban on Domestic Propaganda: An Analysis of the Cold War Statute Limiting Access to Public Diplomacy,” Communication Law and Policy, Vol. 11, Winter 2006, 1-34. Palmer and Carter (Brigham Young University) provide an in-depth study of the history and purposes of the Smith-Mundt Act’s domestic dissemination restrictions. Includes assessments of litigation and court decisions, observations on the impact of the Internet, and the authors’ view on contradictions between enforcement of the ban and U.S. policies on transparency and the free flow of information. (Courtesy of John Brown)

Parliament of Australia, Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee. Australia’s Public Diplomacy: Building our Image, August 16, 2007. In part one of this well-researched report, the Committee examines definitions of public diplomacy, the international literature on public diplomacy, and challenges to governments in using public diplomacy to pursue foreign policy objectives. Part two provides a detailed assessment of Australia’s public diplomacy. Issues include measures of effectiveness; coherence, consistency, and credibility; coordination within government and with NGOs; and training, technology, and funding. (Courtesy of Trish Payne, University of Canberra)

Lawrence Pintak“The Princess and the Facebook Girl: A Media Fable,” Arab Media & Society, May, 2008. Pintak (The American University in Cairo) discusses the contrasting efforts of Jordan’s Princess Rym Ali to build an Arabic language school of journalism and Egypt’s social networking activist Esraa Abdelfattah, whose 75.000 member Facebook site led to repression by Egyptian state security. Pintak’s article captures contradictory impulses in government-media relations in a Middle East coping with the consequences of satellite TV, the Internet, SMS, blogs, cell phones, and Web 2.0. (Courtesy of Len Baldyga, Public Diplomacy Council)

For a related analysis of Facebook activism in Egypt, see Ellen Knickmeyer, “Going Underground in Cairo,” The Washington Post, May 18, 2008.

Olivier RoyThe Politics of Chaos in the Middle East, (Columbia University Press, 2008). In this compelling, well-written book, Roy (French National Center for Scientific Research) provides an incisive critique of U.S. policies in the Middle East, a primer on political Islam, and recommendations for strategic planning. Contains brief references to U.S. public diplomacy after 9/11 and a lengthy analysis of illusions in strategies and counterterrorism policies based on democracy promotion and the increased presence of Western troops in the Muslim world. In the view of this leading European scholar of Islam and politics, the West has no alternative but to “engage in a dialogue with the political forces that truly matter — namely the Islamo nationalists of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.”

Paul Sharp and Geoffrey Wiseman, eds. The Diplomatic Corps as an Institution of International Society, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008). Through this compilation of essays by scholars and practitioners, Sharp (University of Minnesota) and Wiseman (Center on Public Diplomacy, USC) argue that the diplomatic corps “is one of the few unambiguous ways by which an international society is constituted and finds expression.” What this means in practice varies widely as the essays portray. Includes studies on the origins of the diplomatic corps; the diplomatic corps as a symbol of diplomatic culture; essays on the diplomatic corps in the US, UK, Norway, India, Nepal, Rwanda, and Macedonia; and thoughts on the future.

Biljana Scott“Whose Story Wins? Public Diplomacy and Relevance Theory,” Paper presented at the 47th ISA Convention, San Diego, March 2006. Scott (Oxford University, DiploFoundation) draws on “relevance theory” — a linguistic theory of “inferential pragmatics” — to examine contests of competitive credibility in public diplomacy. Referencing Joseph Nye’s concepts of the “paradox of plenty” and attention scarcity, she looks at how positive cognitive effects, competing inputs, and a hearer bias for relevance over truthfulness help to explain challenges facing public diplomacy. Scott contends that winning attention in large part is determined by communicators who are perceived to be relevant and by maximizing the relevance of one’s story. In comparing the roles of truth, trust, and relevance in competitive credibility, Scott agues that relevance matters more than truthfulness and appeals to emotions more than intellectual argument. (Courtesy of Tijana Milosevic, George Washington University). See also LINK.

J. Ann Tickner and Andrei Tysgankov“Risks and Opportunities of Crossing the Academy/Policy Divide,” International Studies Review, Vol. 10, 2008, 155-177. Contributors to this forum address continuing and important questions at the crossroads of scholarship and policy. Do scholars have a responsibility to seek change by working for governments and international organizations? Does such work result in unacceptable compromises with political and scholarly principles? Is the kind of theoretical work that is rewarded in the academy of use to practitioners? Is too much of the research that is valued by policymakers generated in think tanks rather than universities? Should teachers aspire to objectivity and political neutrality in teaching? Includes short essays by Joseph S. Nye, Jr. (Harvard University), Henry R. Nau (George Washington University), Jane S. Jaquette (Occidental College), Craig N. Murphy (Wellesley College), Natalie Goldring (Georgetown University), Thomas Biersteker (Brown University), and Iver Neumann (University of Oslo).

Charles TillyDemocracy, (Cambridge University Press, 2007). Tilly (Columbia University) argues that democratization and “de-democratization” cannot be explained by identifying conditions that enable an ideal democratic political system to emerge and survive. Rather, in this deeply researched examination of two centuries of history, Tilly offers a theory of democratization as a consequence of dynamic processes that are always incomplete and susceptible to reversal. These “necessary processes” include transformation of relations between public politics and trust networks, procedural devices that insulate public politics from categorical inequalities (e.g., based on gender, race, caste, ethnicity, nationality, religion), and suppression of independent power centers.

Fareed ZakariaThe Post-American World, (W.W. Norton, 2008). The editor of Newsweek International and author of The Future of Freedom (2003) contends global power is shifting due to the “the rise of the rest” — the growth of countries such as China, India, Brazil, South Africa, Kenya, Russia — and by power shifts “away from nation-states, up, down, and sideways.” Traditional instruments of state power are less effective, a situation which is compounded for the United States by a substantial legitimacy deficit. Zakaria calls for a more informed U.S. political debate, shared power, coalitions, building legitimacy, greater emphasis on non-military instruments, and doing much more with America’s “largely untapped” civil society.

Gem From the Past

Hans N. TuchCommunicating with the World: U.S. Public Diplomacy Overseas, (St. Martins Press and the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Georgetown University, 1990). Written at the end of the Cold War by an accomplished public diplomacy practitioner with analytical skills, Tuch’s book defines public diplomacy and discusses its evolution in U.S. practice from World War II to the end of the second Reagan Administration. Includes a foreword by Marvin Kalb and four public diplomacy case studies (the beginning of U.S. Soviet cultural relations, U.S. public diplomacy in Brazil, dealing with Germany’s “successor generation,” and INF deployment in the Federal Republic of Germany).

Issue #38

Geoffrey Cowan and Nicholas Cull, eds“Public Diplomacy in a Changing World,” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Volume 616, March 2008. Cowan and Cull (Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California) have assembled a collection of essays that “seeks to explain the concept of public diplomacy, to put it into an academic framework, and to examine it as an international phenomenon and an important component of statecraft.” The essays examine public diplomacy theory, tools of public diplomacy, national case studies, and development of scholarship in the field. “The editors and contributors,” Cowan and Cull write, “present the collection . . . as an early attempt to examine the current state of the field; to stimulate research and open debate; and to provide a resource of interested scholars, practitioners, and students.” Includes:

– Geoffrey Cowan (USC, Annenberg School) and Amelia Arsenault (USC, Annenberg School), “Moving from Monologue to Dialogue to Collaboration: The Three Layers of Public Diplomacy,” 10-30.

– Nicholas Cull (USC, Annenberg School), “Public Diplomacy: Taxonomies and Histories,” 31-54.

– Eytan Golboa (Bar-Ilan University, Israel), “Searching for a Theory of Public Diplomacy,” 55-77.

– Manuel Castells (University of Southern California, Los Angeles), “The New Public Sphere: Global Civil Society, Communication Networks, and Global Governance,” 78-93.

– Joseph S. Nye, Jr. (Harvard University), “Public Diplomacy and Soft Power,” 94-109.

– Ernest J. Wilson III (USC, Annenberg School), “Hard Power, Soft Power, Smart Power,” 110-124.

– Peter van Ham (Netherlands Institute of International Relations, “Clingendael”), “Place Branding: The State of the Art,” 126-149.

– Monroe E. Price (Annenberg School, University of Pennsylvania), Susan Haas (Annenberg School, University of Pennsylvania), and Drew Margolin (USC Annenberg School), “New Technologies and International Broadcasting: Reflections on Adaptations and Transformations,” 150-172.

– Giles Scott-Smith (Roosevelt Academy, the Netherlands), “Mapping the Undefinable: Some Thoughts on the Relevance of Exchange Programs within International Relations Theory,” 173-195.

– Nancy Snow (California State University, Fullerton), “International Exchanges and the U.S Image,” 198-222.

– Michael J. Bustamante (Council on Foreign Relations) and Julia E. Sweig (Council on Foreign Relations), “Buena Vista Solidarity and the Axis of Aid: Cuban and Venezuelan Public Diplomacy,” 223-256.

– Yiwei Wang (Fudan University, China), “Public Diplomacy and the Rise of Chinese Soft Power,” 257-273.

– Bruce Gregory (George Washington University), “Public Diplomacy: Sunrise of an Academic Field,” 274-290.

Kathy R. FitzpatrickThe Collapse of American Public Diplomacy: What Diplomatic Experts Say About Rebuilding America’s Image in the World — A View From the Trenches, paper presented at the International Studies Association Conference, San Francisco, March 26-29, 2008. Fitzpatrick (Quinnipiac University) summarizes and assesses findings from her 15-page survey completed in 2007 by 213 members of the Public Diplomacy Alumni Association (previously the USIA Alumni Association). Her survey documents the views of 48 percent of the association’s members on what should be done to rebuild public diplomacy, public diplomacy during the Cold War, public diplmacy’s mission and values, and issues relating to structure, leadership, and effective practices. Available on the PDAA’s website.

Alan C. HansenNine Lives: A Foreign Service Odyssey, Vellum Books, Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, 2007. Hansen’s memoir looks at public diplomacy through the lens of his personal experiences in Spain, Pakistan, and seven Latin American assignments as a U.S. Information Agency Foreign Service Officer from 1954 to 1987. His anecdotal account profiles USIA’s work and the strengths and limitations of public diplomacy in the conduct of U.S. foreign policy.

Alan L. Heil, Jr., edLocal Voices / Global Perspectives: Challenges Ahead for U.S. International Media, Public Diplomacy Council, 2008. In this collection of twenty essays and moderated discussions, scholars, broadcasters, and public diplomacy practitioners address challenges facing government international broadcasting. Contributors include: Paul Blackburn, Brian Conniff, Robert Coonrod, Nicholas Cull, Kim Andrew Elliott, Morand Fachot, James Glassman, Mark Helmke, Kevin Klose, Gary Knell, Mark Maybury, Graham Mytton, Salemeh Nematt, Adam Clayton Powell III, Walter Roberts, William Rugh, McKinney Russell, John Trattner, Jeffry Trimble, Sanford Ungar, Myrna Whitworth, and Barry Zorthian. Copies may be ordered through the Public Diplomacy Council at pdi410@gwu.edu mailto:pdi410@gwu.edu> .

William P. Kiehl“Humpty Dumpty Redux: Saving Public Diplomacy,” American Diplomacy, March 4, 2008. Kiehl, a retired USIA Foreign Service Officer, updates thinking in his November 2003 article, “Can Humpty Dumpty be Saved?” He calls for adequate funding and staffing, creation of an Office of Strategic Communication (OSC) within the Executive Office of the President, and a new independent Agency for Public Diplomacy that would report to the President through the OSC.

Rita J. King and Joshua S. FoutsDancing Ink Productions. King (CEO and Creative Director) and Fouts (Chief Global Strategist and former director of USC Annenberg’s Public Diplomacy Center) have created a consulting and strategy firm that works with a mix of clients “to contribute meaningfully to the evolution of global culture in the imagination age.” Their projects explore possibilities for global cultural connections in Second Life, the blogosphere, and other virtual platforms. Check out the Dancing Ink Productions homepage and their posts“Our Vision for Sustainable Culture in the Imagination Age,” February 25, 2008), “Beyond Borat,” March 9, 2008, and “The Emergence of a New Global Culture” (March 29, 2008).

Greg MitchellSo Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits — and the President — Failed on Iraq, Union Square Press, Sterling Publishing Co., 2008. Mitchell, editor of Editor & Publisher, adds to the growing shelf of critical assessments of press coverage of the Iraq war by media voices and journalism professors. Includes many of his E&P columns and new material in his critique of media and government culpability during the years between the run-up to the war in 2003 and the “surge” in 2007.

Stuart Murray“Consolidating the Gains Made in Diplomacy Studies: A Taxonomy,” International Studies Perspectives, Vol. 9, Issue 1, February 2008, 22-39. Murray (Bond University, Australia) examines a broad range of diplomacy studies from the traditional (state-to-state) to the non-traditional (diplomacy practiced by NGOs and corporations). Murray creates three schools of diplomatic study: Traditional (state institutions), Nascent (non-state), and Innovative (state and non-state). Includes references to the work of Andrew Cooper, Jeffery Cooper, Brian Hocking, Christer Jonsson, Jan Melissen, Iver Neumann, David Newsom, and Paul Sharp among others.

National Endowment for Democracy, Center for Media Assistance (CIMA). The Center supports independent media assistance programs and democratic development through building networks and conducting research. Its bibliographic database and lists of working group and research reports are available on its website. Recent publications include: Shanthi Kalathil, Scaling a Changing Curve: Traditional Media Development and the New Media, March 3, 2008, Ann C, Olson, The Role of Media-support Organizations and Public Literacy in Strengthening Independent Media Worldwide February 5, 2008: and Community Development Radio: Its Impact and Challenges to Its Development, Working Group Report, October 9, 2007.

Geoffrey Allen Pigman and Anthony Deos. “Consuls for Hire: Private Actors, Public Diplomacy,” Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Vol. 4, 1, 85-96. Pigman (Bennington College) and Deos (Jott Communications) assess the expanding roles and methods of global public relations firms, political communication professionals, and other private actors in public diplomacy. The authors examine how states, governments of regions, and political actors are seeking to assert identity and gain recognition by interacting with private firms “to construct diplomatic strategies of representation and image management.” They conclude there is no dominant model of interaction. Rather there is a spectrum ranging from embedded public relations professionals to outsourcing and the independent “privately undertaken public diplomacy” of organizations such as Business for Diplomatic Action.

This and other articles are available online in the journal Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Volume 4, No. 1, February 2008 — “A quarterly review of branding and marketing for national, regional, and civic development.” Simon Anholt is the Managing Editor.

Michael C. Polt“Toolbox: Strengthening American Diplomacy,” The American Interest, Vol. III, March/April, 2008, 101-103. Ambassador Polt (a career U.S. Foreign Service Officer on loan to the German Marshall Fund) offers six recommendations in an “action memorandum” to the next president of the United States. Polt’s recommendations: (1) “reconceive embassies” around the world, (2) treat U.S. diplomacy as a serious profession, (3) reaffirm the diplomatic corps’ role as the principal agent for achieving a president’s foreign policy agenda, (4) create a single, substantial, and consistent foreign affairs budget for all U.S. efforts abroad, (5) create regional Ambassadors’ Councils, and (6) trust professional diplomats. Available to subscribers. Abstract online.

Project for Excellence in JournalismThe State of the News Media 2008, March 2008. Trends discussed in PEJ’s (Tom Rosenstiel, director) fifth annual report “tracing the revolution of news” include: (1) News is shifting from being a product (newspaper, website, newscast) to becoming a service. (2) News websites are no longer final destinations; sites restricted to their own content become cul de sac’s of limited value. (3) The prospects for user-created content and “citizen news” appear more limited than once thought. Rather than rejecting the gatekeeper role of traditional journalism, citizen journalists and bloggers are “recreating it in other places.” (4) The agenda of American news media “continues to narrow, not broaden.”

Yale RichmondPracticing Public Diplomacy: A Cold War Odyssey, Berghahn Books, 2008 (ADST-DACOR Diplomats and Diplomacy Book). Richmond, a retired cultural officer in the U.S. Foreign Service and author of Cultural Exchange and the Cold War (2003), looks at the practice of public diplomacy during the Cold War through his assignments in Germany, Laos, Austria, Poland, and the Soviet Union — and his subsequent work with the Helsinki Commission and the National Endowment for Democracy. In a book that is part memoir and part history, Richmond’s perspectives focus on the enduring values of cultural diplomacy, the limitations of “a propaganda approach to public diplomacy,” and numerous examples of “what works and what doesn’t” in public diplomacy.

Janet Steele“The Voice of East Timor: Journalism, Ideology, and the Struggle for Independence,” Asian Studies Review, September 2007, Vol. 31, 261-232. Steele (a professor of journalism at George Washington University, Fulbright scholar in Indonesia, and author of Wars Within: The Story of Tempo, an Independent Magazine in Soeharto’s Indonesia, 2005), examines relationships between journalists and the development of national identity in East Timor. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, she analyzes ways journalists have defined themselves, examines challenges facing journalism in East Timor, and concludes with perspectives on the future of Timorese journalism.

The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point (CTC)Cracks in the Foundation: Leadership Schisms in al-Qa’ida from 1989-2006. The CTC’s report analyzes the history of al-Qaida’s debates over strategies and goals using documents from the Department of Defense’s Harmony Database. Contains many new documents not previously available to academic and practitioner communities.

Michael WalzerThinking Politically: Essays in Political Theory, Yale University Press, 2007. Selected, edited and introduced by David Miller (Oxford University), this collection of Walzer’s (Princeton University) most important essays is of broad general interest. Miller’s introduction is a substantial overview of Walzer’s fifty year career. Includes a recent interview with Walzer and essays containing his critical assessments of civil society, pluralism, toleration, Jurgen Habermas’s communicative action theories, and the morality of terrorism and responses to terrorism that will be of interest to those teaching public diplomacy. Essays include: “A Critique of Philosophical Conversation,” “The Civil Society Argument,” “Deliberation and What Else,” “The Politics of Difference: Statehood and Toleration in a Multicultural World,” and “Terrorism and Just War.” (Courtesy of Donna Oglesby)

Gabriel Weimann“Online Terrorist Prey on the Vulnerable,” YaleGlobal Online, March 5, 2008. Weimann, professor of communication at Haifa University and author of Terror on the Internet (2006), looks at how a maturing Internet is being used by terrorist organizations for narrowcasting to target and exploit the vulnerabilities of groups such as marginalized women and children.

Hugh WilfordThe Mighty Wurlitzer: How the CIA Played America, Harvard University Press, 2008. Wilford (California State University, Long Beach) provides a deeply researched examination of the CIA’s covert funding of intellectuals, students, artists, journalists, labor organizations, religious leaders, and emigre organizations to project American political and cultural influence from the 1940s to the 1960s. Drawing on the records of these organizations and secondary sources (most CIA records remain classified), Wilford seeks to portray a comprehensive account of the CIA’s network “by telling both sides of the story” — from the perspectives of intelligence history and the social history of the client organizations. CIA official Frank Wisner’s remark comparing the network of organizations to a “mighty Wurlitzer” organ “capable of playing any propaganda tune he desired” provides the book’s title.

Robin WrightDreams and Shadows: The Future of the Middle East, The Penguin Press, 2008. The Washington Post’s veteran foreign correspondent draws on thirty-five years of reporting in the region to provide both historical narrative and thoughts about the future of a Middle East in transition. Useful for its discussion of regional media, satellite television, democratic activism, women’s activism, tensions between reform and reaction, and struggles among autocrats, democrats, and theocrats.

Gem from the Past

Jarol B. ManheimStrategic Public Diplomacy and American Foreign Policy: The Evolution of Influence, Oxford University Press, 1994. In this early academic study of public diplomacy, Professor Manheim (George Washington University) draws on qualitative and quantitative research methods to provide a systematic analysis of public diplomacy as strategic communication, the use of political communication strategies by other countries in the U.S., the evolution of U.S. public diplomacy, and the role of political communication consultants. Contains case studies on the uses of “strategic public diplomacy” by Kuwait, Pakistan, Mexico, Japan, and South Korea.

Issue #37

Andrew J. Bacevich“Prophets and Poseurs: Niebuhr and Our Times,” World Affairs, Winter 2008, Vol. 170, No. 3, pp. 24-37. Bacevich (Boston College) examines the current relevance of 20th century theologian Reinhold Niebuhr’s thinking about “myths and delusions” in the way Americans see themselves and project themselves to the world. Drawing on Niebuhr’s The Irony of American History (1952, soon to be reprinted), Bacevich explores Niebuhr’s views on four themes: (1) the persistence of American exceptionalism, hypocrisy, and pride in America’s self-perception; (2) history as an opaque drama in which the story line and denouement are hidden; (3) the persistence of overconfidence and the false allure of simple solutions; and (4) the imperative of appreciating the limits of power. (Available by subscription)

Nathan Brown and Amr Hamzawy“Arab Spring Fever,” The National Interest, September/October, 2007, pp. 33-40. Brown (George Washington University) and Hamzawy (Carnegie Endowment) write that Washington’s “manic debate” on political change in the Middle East misses gradual change “driven to a great extent by an indigenous freedom agenda.” The authors find stunning impatience in Washington’s approach and call for greater realism, a mix of policies, sustainable efforts, and recognition that political realism may be occurring “but not on any U.S. administration’s timetable.”

Tom Miller“America’s Role in the World: A Business Perspective on Public Diplomacy,” Business for Diplomatic Action (BDA), October 2007, pp. 1-18. Written by Tom Miller (BDA Vice President), this report examines definitions of public diplomacy, discusses problems for the U.S. economy driven by the decline in America’s global public image, and recommends ways the U.S. business community can help in structuring and promoting an effective public diplomacy strategy. BDA’s recommendations: (1) creation of an independent Corporation for Public Diplomacy (CPD) and a cross-agency National Communications Council (NCC) reporting to the President; (2) development of a “public diplomacy and communications strategy” employing the skills, techniques and processes of global businesses; (3) an increase in public diplomacy resources from $1.5B to $3B; and (4) establishment of a “reserve” Foreign Service Officer and “Goodwill Ambassador” corps.

Andrew F. CooperCelebrity Diplomacy, Paradigm Publishers, 2008. Cooper (University of Waterloo and Centre of International Governance Innovation) looks at the role of celebrities in diplomacy from Ben Franklin to Shirley Temple Black and Octavio Paz to today’s Bono, Angelina Jolie, and Bill Gates. He examines analytical, normative, and practical issues in the associations of state and non-state actors with celebrities who attract attention and mobilize activists on global issues. His book addresses questions of boundaries, legitimacy, limits, and consequences — and the arguments of critics — in a “mix of public diplomacy and advocacy through both official and unofficial mechanisms.”

Richard L. Armitage and Joseph S. Nye, Jr. Co-Chairs. CSIS Commission on Smart Power, A Smarter, More Secure America. Center for Strategic and International Studies, (2007), 1-79. Armitage (former deputy secretary of state), Nye (Harvard), and a bipartisan commission of American scholars and practitioners call for the next U.S. president to implement a smart power strategy that complements military and economic might with greater investments in soft power. Recommendations focus on six areas: reinvigorated alliances, partnerships, and institutions; elevated global development; strengthened public diplomacy; economic integration; technology and innovation; and creative approaches to how the government is organized, coordinated, and budgeted. Public diplomacy recommendations include increased exchanges with a focus on youth, U.S.-China and U.S. India Educational Funds, expanded Middle East language competencies, and creation of an independent, nonprofit “center for international knowledge and communication.”

Steven R. Corman and Kevin J. DooleyStrategic Communication on a Rugged Landscape: Principles for Finding the Right Message, Report #0801, Consortium for Strategic Communication (CSC), Arizona State University, January 7, 2008. The authors build on an earlier CSC paper (A 21st Century Model for Communication in the Global War of Ideas, April 2007), which argued that U.S. strategic communication is based on an outdated “message influence model.” In this new CSC study, they assert that U.S. communication efforts are limited by a fruitless quest to centralize and tightly control its messages. Using the metaphor of a rugged landscape with many peaks, Corman and Dooley call for a new approach with “multiple integral solutions,” greater tolerance for experimentation and random variation in communication, and recognition that “failure is normal part of the path to success.” (Courtesy of Stephanie Helm)

Brent Cunningham“The Rhetoric Beat,” Columbia Journalism Review, November/December, 36-39. CJR’s managing editor examines the crucial political role of the press in its choices of words, metaphors, and linguistic frames. Cunningham looks briefly and selectively at framing literature and media framing choices in the decision to go to war in Iraq. He proposes that news organizations employ “rhetoric reporters” to research the history and use of words applied to policies and actions “to help keep political discourse as clear and intellectually honest as possible.

Defense Science Board Task Force on Strategic CommunicationReport on Strategic Communication in the 21st Century, Chair, Vincent Vitto, January, 2008, 1-149. In its third year-long study since 2001, the Defense Science Board’s (DSB) Task Force has substantially refined and updated its views with particular attention to deep comprehension of attitudes and cultures, relationships between government and civil society, adaptive networks within government, new media, and technology transformation. The Task Force, comprised of members from government (diplomacy and military) and the academic and non-profit research communities, urges a national commitment to strategic communication “supported by resources and a strength of purpose that matches the nation’s commitment to defense, intelligence, law enforcement, and homeland security.” Key recommendations: amplification of the DSB’s call in 2004 for an independent, non-profit, and non-partisan Center for Global Engagement to leverage knowledge and skills in civil society (beginning with a “deep understanding of cultures and cultural dynamics, core values of other societies, and media and technologiy trends”); a permanent strategic communication structure within the White House; strengthened capacity in the Departments of State and Defense; and a thorough review of the mission, structure, and functions of the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

Daniel W. Drezner“Foreign Policy Goes Glam,” The National Interest, No. 92, November/December 2007, pp. 22-28. Drezner (Fletcher School, Tufts University) examines the increasing influence of celebrities in advancing policy agendas in global issues. Although the role of celebrities in world politics is not new (Shirley Temple, Jane Fonda), Drezner argues the influence of today’s celebrities can be attributed to differences in the way citizens consume information, new incentives in the entertainment industry, the impact of soft news, and power shifts to individuals and non-state actors driven by the Internet and an information ecosystem in which attention, not information, is the scarce resource. Drezner examines the pros and cons of celebrity activism, noting that problem awareness differs from problem solutions. (Full online text for subscribers.)

Francis Fukuyama and Michael McFaul“Should Democracy be Promoted or Demoted?” The Washington Quarterly, Winter 2007-08, 23-43. Fukuyama (Johns Hopkins, SAIS) and McFaul (Stanford) review moves toward greater autocracy in many countries, increasing skepticism toward the democracy agenda in U.S. foreign policy, and deficiencies in the Bush administration’s efforts to promote democracy. The authors systematically engage the central arguments against democracy promotion and call for a more sustainable strategy in achieving it. Key elements: restoring the U.S. example, improved public diplomacy, diplomatic engagement with autocracies, ambitious reorganization of U.S. programs (including a new cabinet level Department of International Development), a firewall between U.S. assistance to states and to NGOs, and enhanced international institutions.

Barry Fulton“Geo-Social Mapping of the International Communications Environment or Why Abdul Isn’t Listening,” The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, 2 (2007), 307-315. Fulton (George Washington University) calls for a “radical redefinition of public diplomacy” grounded in stimulating “the imagination of those who make a difference in their own cultures.” Giving others the means and motivation to address global requirements can enhance the security of the sponsoring nation. Fulton’s three-point agenda for reforming the conduct of public diplomacy: (1) “reach beyond short-term parochial interests by providing knowledge to the curious, the innovative, and the restless;” (2) hold public diplomats accountable “for enabling connectivity and serving as cultural interpreters;” and (3) “recruit and train artists, scholars, and scientists as public diplomats to engage actively in indigenous social networks.” (Available by subscription)

Robert M. Gates“Landon Lecture,” Remarks of the Secretary of Defense, Manhattan, Kansas, November 26, 2007. Secretary Gates makes “the case for strengthening our capacity to use ‘soft’ power and for better integrating it with ‘hard’ power.” His recommendations include: increased national capacity in economic development, institution building, rule of law, good governance, and strategic communication; greater use of expertise in America’s universities; and “a dramatic increase in spending on the civilian instruments of national security — diplomacy, strategic communications, foreign assistance, civic action, and economic reconstruction and development.” The Secretary stated that the “way to institutionalize these capabilities is probably not to recreate or repopulate institutions of the past such as AID or USIA.” The U.S. needs new thinking on how to integrate government capabilities with the private sector, universities, non-governmental organizations, and allies and friends.

Marwan M. KraidyArab Media and US Policy: A Public Diplomacy ResetThe Stanley Foundation, January 2008. Kraidy (Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania) discusses historical and current developments in the Arab media environment to make recommendations on the structure and conduct of U.S. public diplomacy. His public diplomacy reset includes: avoiding the polarizing rhetoric of the “global war on terror;” addressing the socioeconomic impact of globalization on Arab societies; greater reliance on “pull” media; creating a special public diplomacy advisor to the president; triple funding for Fulbright programs focused on communication, journalism, and media studies; and shutting down the U.S. government’s Al Hurra television network. (Courtesy of Ellen Frost)

Art Kleiner“The Thought Leader Interview: Anne-Marie Slaughter,” Strategy+Business, Booz Allen Hamilton, Issue 48, Autumn 2007, pp. 1-7. Slaughter (Dean of Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School) explains how her thinking about transgovernmental networks and the role of the state has evolved. Included in the interview are Slaughter’s views on the strengths and limitations of networks, the impact on embassy operations of emerging power relationships at the sub-state level, virtual architectures within government, psychological shifts in the roles of diplomats, and models of accountability and openness. (Courtesy of Tom Bayoumi)

Joshua Kurlantzick and Devin Stewart,“Hu’s on First?” The National Interest, No. 92, November/December 2007, pp. 63-67. The authors (both at the Carnegie Endowment) discuss the strengths and successes of China’s diplomacy and soft power, but they argue “Beijing’s may be reaching its limits” due to a lack of transparency in its domestic political system and lack of business ethics. They conclude that China’s shortcomings will delay its projection of power in Asia, but not indefinitely, and that the U.S. is missing opportunities in the region due to its preoccupation with Iraq and the Middle East.

Carnes Lord and Helle Dale“Public Diplomacy and the Cold War: Lessons Learned,” The Heritage Foundation, Backgrounder No. 2070, September 18, 2007, 1-8. Lord (U.S. Naval War College) and Dale (The Heritage Foundation) examine successful public diplomacy campaigns and methods during the Cold War in an analysis of persistent problems in American public diplomacy. Their recommendations focus on Presidential leadership; a unified vision and body of principles and doctrines, and a coherent national strategy.

Jan Melissen and Paul Sharp, eds., “Rethinking the New Public Diplomacy,” The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, Vol. 2, No. 3. Melissen (Netherlands Institute of International Relations, “Clingendael”) and Sharp (University of Minnesota) continue their innovative research journal with a special issue on public diplomacy. Includes articles by:

Kathy Fitzpatrick (Quinnipiac University), “Advancing the New Public Diplomacy: A Public Relations Perspective”

R. S. Zaharna (American University), “The Soft Power Differential: Network Communication and Mass Communication in Public Diplomacy”

Craig Hayden (USC Center on Public Diplomacy), “The Role of Argument Formation”

Pierre C. Pahlavi (McGill University), “Evaluating Public Diplomacy Programme”

Giles Scott-Smith, (University of Lancaster), “The Ties That BInd: Dutch-American Relations, U.S. Public Diplomacy and the Promotion of American Studies Since the Second World War”

Barry Fulton (George Washington University), “Practitioners’ Perspectives: Geo-Social Mapping of the International Communications Environment or Why Abdul Isn’t Listening”

(Available by subscription)

Andras Szanto, ed. “What Orwell Didn’t Know: Propaganda and the New Face of American Politics,” Public Affairs, 2007. Twenty prominent scholars and journalists use the 60th anniversary of George Orwell’s classic essay, “Politics and the English Language,” to assess the role of the media and political communication today — and “to chart the complex topography of propaganda withn the new landscape of American politics.” Includes an indtroduction by Orville Schelle and essays by Geoffrey Cowan, Mark Danner, Farnaz Fassihi, Francis Fitzgerald, Konstanty Gebert, Susan Harding, Martin Kaplan, George Lakoff, Nicholas Lemann, Michael Massing, Victor Navasky, Aryeh Neier, Alice O’Connor, Francine Prose, David Rieff, George Soros, Drew Westen, and Patricia J. Williams. The essays by David RieffNicholas Lemann, and Geoffrey Cowan can also be found in The Columbia Journalism Review (November/December 2007).

Sherry Ricchiardi“Covering the World,” American Journalism Review, December 2007/January 2008, 32-39. AJR’s Ricchardi continues her long-time interest in global news coverage with an in-depth look at the overseas operations of the Associated Press. Her article profiles personalities and looks at AP’s evolving approaches to priorities, training, news analysis, and the safety of reporters.

Walter R. Roberts, “What is Public Diplomacy? Past Practices, Present Conduct, Possible Future,” Mediterranean Quarterly, Fall 2007, Vol. 18, No. 4. Roberts (public diplomat, teacher, and co-founder of GW’s Public Diplomacy Institute) continues his inquiry into the history and meaning of public diplomacy as practiced by the United States during the 20th century. His article develops judgments on the relevance of this history to the future of diplomacy and the policy process. Available by subscription.

Marc SagemanLeaderless Jihad: Terror Networks in the Twenty-First Century, (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008). The author of Understanding Terror Networks (2004) analyzes the evolution of terror networks into more fluid and scattered global leaderless networks connected by the Internet — “a multitude of informal local groups trying to emulate their predecessors by conceiving and executing operations from the bottom up.” Sagemen challenges many of the central tenets of a militarized and excessively ideological U.S. strategy against terrorist networks. His strategic proposals assume that global Islamist terrorism is a self-limiting threat and draw on lessons from George Kennan’s containment logic. Central to his recommendations are demilitarization of the conflict, steps that “take the glory out of terrorism,” policy actions that reduce moral outrage, less emphasis on ideology and religion, and elimination of social and economic discrimination against Muslims, particularly in Western Europe.

“Smart Power: John J. Hamre Talks with Joseph Nye and Richard Armitage,” The American Interest, Vol. III, No. 2, November/December 2007, pp. 34-41. Nye (Harvard) and Armitage (former Deputy Secretary of State) respond to questions from Hamre (President and CEO of the Center for Strategic and International Studies) on the report of the Center’s Commission on Smart Power. Contains their definitions of smart power and public diplomacy, their views on threats and opportunities in national security strategy, and a summary of key judgments in the report co-chaired by Nye and Armitage. Available by subscription.

J. Michael WallerThe Public Diplomacy Reader, (Washington, DC: The Institute of World Politics Press, 2007). Professor Waller (Institute of World Politics) has compiled a collection of approximately 150 short readings — “slices of public diplomacy” from thinkers, practitioners, presidents, advisory panels, and legislation — with a primary focus on the American public diplomacy tradition (from the Continental Congress to the present). Categories include definitions and uses of public diplomacy, the power of ideas and values, truth and trust, cultural diplomacy, humanitarian public diplomacy, religion and public diplomacy, broadcasting, words and language, psychological planning and strategy, public diplomacy and propaganda, counterpropaganda, public diplomacy after 9/11, technology, citizens as public diplomats, and legal texts.

Issue #36

Andrew J. Bacevich“Prophets and Poseurs: Niebuhr and Our Times,” World Affairs, Winter 2008, Vol. 170, No. 3, pp. 24-37. Bacevich (Boston College) examines the current relevance of 20th century theologian Reinhold Niebuhr’s thinking about “myths and delusions” in the way Americans see themselves and project themselves to the world. Drawing on Niebuhr’s The Irony of American History (1952, soon to be reprinted), Bacevich explores Niebuhr’s views on four themes: (1) the persistence of American exceptionalism, hypocrisy, and pride in America’s self-perception; (2) history as an opaque drama in which the story line and denouement are hidden; (3) the persistence of overconfidence and the false allure of simple solutions; and (4) the imperative of appreciating the limits of power. (Available by subscription)

Nathan Brown and Amr Hamzawy“Arab Spring Fever,” The National Interest, September/October, 2007, pp. 33-40. Brown (George Washington University) and Hamzawy (Carnegie Endowment) write that Washington’s “manic debate” on political change in the Middle East misses gradual change “driven to a great extent by an indigenous freedom agenda.” The authors find stunning impatience in Washington’s approach and call for greater realism, a mix of policies, sustainable efforts, and recognition that political realism may be occurring “but not on any U.S. administration’s timetable.”

Tom Miller“America’s Role in the World: A Business Perspective on Public Diplomacy,” Business for Diplomatic Action (BDA), October 2007, pp. 1-18. Written by Tom Miller (BDA Vice President), this report examines definitions of public diplomacy, discusses problems for the U.S. economy driven by the decline in America’s global public image, and recommends ways the U.S. business community can help in structuring and promoting an effective public diplomacy strategy. BDA’s recommendations: (1) creation of an independent Corporation for Public Diplomacy (CPD) and a cross-agency National Communications Council (NCC) reporting to the President; (2) development of a “public diplomacy and communications strategy” employing the skills, techniques and processes of global businesses; (3) an increase in public diplomacy resources from $1.5B to $3B; and (4) establishment of a “reserve” Foreign Service Officer and “Goodwill Ambassador” corps.

Andrew F. CooperCelebrity Diplomacy, Paradigm Publishers, 2008. Cooper (University of Waterloo and Centre of International Governance Innovation) looks at the role of celebrities in diplomacy from Ben Franklin to Shirley Temple Black and Octavio Paz to today’s Bono, Angelina Jolie, and Bill Gates. He examines analytical, normative, and practical issues in the associations of state and non-state actors with celebrities who attract attention and mobilize activists on global issues. His book addresses questions of boundaries, legitimacy, limits, and consequences — and the arguments of critics — in a “mix of public diplomacy and advocacy through both official and unofficial mechanisms.”

Richard L. Armitage and Joseph S. Nye, Jr. Co-Chairs. CSIS Commission on Smart Power, A Smarter, More Secure America. Center for Strategic and International Studies, (2007), 1-79. Armitage (former deputy secretary of state), Nye (Harvard), and a bipartisan commission of American scholars and practitioners call for the next U.S. president to implement a smart power strategy that complements military and economic might with greater investments in soft power. Recommendations focus on six areas: reinvigorated alliances, partnerships, and institutions; elevated global development; strengthened public diplomacy; economic integration; technology and innovation; and creative approaches to how the government is organized, coordinated, and budgeted. Public diplomacy recommendations include increased exchanges with a focus on youth, U.S.-China and U.S. India Educational Funds, expanded Middle East language competencies, and creation of an independent, nonprofit “center for international knowledge and communication.”

Steven R. Corman and Kevin J. DooleyStrategic Communication on a Rugged Landscape: Principles for Finding the Right Message, Report #0801, Consortium for Strategic Communication (CSC), Arizona State University, January 7, 2008. The authors build on an earlier CSC paper (A 21st Century Model for Communication in the Global War of Ideas, April 2007), which argued that U.S. strategic communication is based on an outdated “message influence model.” In this new CSC study, they assert that U.S. communication efforts are limited by a fruitless quest to centralize and tightly control its messages. Using the metaphor of a rugged landscape with many peaks, Corman and Dooley call for a new approach with “multiple integral solutions,” greater tolerance for experimentation and random variation in communication, and recognition that “failure is normal part of the path to success.” (Courtesy of Stephanie Helm)

Brent Cunningham“The Rhetoric Beat,” Columbia Journalism Review, November/December, 36-39. CJR’s managing editor examines the crucial political role of the press in its choices of words, metaphors, and linguistic frames. Cunningham looks briefly and selectively at framing literature and media framing choices in the decision to go to war in Iraq. He proposes that news organizations employ “rhetoric reporters” to research the history and use of words applied to policies and actions “to help keep political discourse as clear and intellectually honest as possible.

Defense Science Board Task Force on Strategic CommunicationReport on Strategic Communication in the 21st Century, Chair, Vincent Vitto, January, 2008, 1-149. In its third year-long study since 2001, the Defense Science Board’s (DSB) Task Force has substantially refined and updated its views with particular attention to deep comprehension of attitudes and cultures, relationships between government and civil society, adaptive networks within government, new media, and technology transformation. The Task Force, comprised of members from government (diplomacy and military) and the academic and non-profit research communities, urges a national commitment to strategic communication “supported by resources and a strength of purpose that matches the nation’s commitment to defense, intelligence, law enforcement, and homeland security.” Key recommendations: amplification of the DSB’s call in 2004 for an independent, non-profit, and non-partisan Center for Global Engagement to leverage knowledge and skills in civil society (beginning with a “deep understanding of cultures and cultural dynamics, core values of other societies, and media and technologiy trends”); a permanent strategic communication structure within the White House; strengthened capacity in the Departments of State and Defense; and a thorough review of the mission, structure, and functions of the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

Daniel W. Drezner“Foreign Policy Goes Glam,” The National Interest, No. 92, November/December 2007, pp. 22-28. Drezner (Fletcher School, Tufts University) examines the increasing influence of celebrities in advancing policy agendas in global issues. Although the role of celebrities in world politics is not new (Shirley Temple, Jane Fonda), Drezner argues the influence of today’s celebrities can be attributed to differences in the way citizens consume information, new incentives in the entertainment industry, the impact of soft news, and power shifts to individuals and non-state actors driven by the Internet and an information ecosystem in which attention, not information, is the scarce resource. Drezner examines the pros and cons of celebrity activism, noting that problem awareness differs from problem solutions. (Full online text for subscribers.)

Francis Fukuyama and Michael McFaul“Should Democracy be Promoted or Demoted?” The Washington Quarterly, Winter 2007-08, 23-43. Fukuyama (Johns Hopkins, SAIS) and McFaul (Stanford) review moves toward greater autocracy in many countries, increasing skepticism toward the democracy agenda in U.S. foreign policy, and deficiencies in the Bush administration’s efforts to promote democracy. The authors systematically engage the central arguments against democracy promotion and call for a more sustainable strategy in achieving it. Key elements: restoring the U.S. example, improved public diplomacy, diplomatic engagement with autocracies, ambitious reorganization of U.S. programs (including a new cabinet level Department of International Development), a firewall between U.S. assistance to states and to NGOs, and enhanced international institutions.

Barry Fulton“Geo-Social Mapping of the International Communications Environment or Why Abdul Isn’t Listening,” The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, 2 (2007), 307-315. Fulton (George Washington University) calls for a “radical redefinition of public diplomacy” grounded in stimulating “the imagination of those who make a difference in their own cultures.” Giving others the means and motivation to address global requirements can enhance the security of the sponsoring nation. Fulton’s three-point agenda for reforming the conduct of public diplomacy: (1) “reach beyond short-term parochial interests by providing knowledge to the curious, the innovative, and the restless;” (2) hold public diplomats accountable “for enabling connectivity and serving as cultural interpreters;” and (3) “recruit and train artists, scholars, and scientists as public diplomats to engage actively in indigenous social networks.” (Available by subscription)

Robert M. Gates“Landon Lecture,” Remarks of the Secretary of Defense, Manhattan, Kansas, November 26, 2007. Secretary Gates makes “the case for strengthening our capacity to use ‘soft’ power and for better integrating it with ‘hard’ power.” His recommendations include: increased national capacity in economic development, institution building, rule of law, good governance, and strategic communication; greater use of expertise in America’s universities; and “a dramatic increase in spending on the civilian instruments of national security — diplomacy, strategic communications, foreign assistance, civic action, and economic reconstruction and development.” The Secretary stated that the “way to institutionalize these capabilities is probably not to recreate or repopulate institutions of the past such as AID or USIA.” The U.S. needs new thinking on how to integrate government capabilities with the private sector, universities, non-governmental organizations, and allies and friends.

Marwan M. KraidyArab Media and US Policy: A Public Diplomacy ResetThe Stanley Foundation, January 2008. Kraidy (Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania) discusses historical and current developments in the Arab media environment to make recommendations on the structure and conduct of U.S. public diplomacy. His public diplomacy reset includes: avoiding the polarizing rhetoric of the “global war on terror;” addressing the socioeconomic impact of globalization on Arab societies; greater reliance on “pull” media; creating a special public diplomacy advisor to the president; triple funding for Fulbright programs focused on communication, journalism, and media studies; and shutting down the U.S. government’s Al Hurra television network. (Courtesy of Ellen Frost)

Art Kleiner“The Thought Leader Interview: Anne-Marie Slaughter,” Strategy+Business, Booz Allen Hamilton, Issue 48, Autumn 2007, pp. 1-7. Slaughter (Dean of Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School) explains how her thinking about transgovernmental networks and the role of the state has evolved. Included in the interview are Slaughter’s views on the strengths and limitations of networks, the impact on embassy operations of emerging power relationships at the sub-state level, virtual architectures within government, psychological shifts in the roles of diplomats, and models of accountability and openness. (Courtesy of Tom Bayoumi)

Joshua Kurlantzick and Devin Stewart,“Hu’s on First?” The National Interest, No. 92, November/December 2007, pp. 63-67. The authors (both at the Carnegie Endowment) discuss the strengths and successes of China’s diplomacy and soft power, but they argue “Beijing’s may be reaching its limits” due to a lack of transparency in its domestic political system and lack of business ethics. They conclude that China’s shortcomings will delay its projection of power in Asia, but not indefinitely, and that the U.S. is missing opportunities in the region due to its preoccupation with Iraq and the Middle East.

Carnes Lord and Helle Dale“Public Diplomacy and the Cold War: Lessons Learned,” The Heritage Foundation, Backgrounder No. 2070, September 18, 2007, 1-8. Lord (U.S. Naval War College) and Dale (The Heritage Foundation) examine successful public diplomacy campaigns and methods during the Cold War in an analysis of persistent problems in American public diplomacy. Their recommendations focus on Presidential leadership; a unified vision and body of principles and doctrines, and a coherent national strategy.

Jan Melissen and Paul Sharp, eds., “Rethinking the New Public Diplomacy,” The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, Vol. 2, No. 3. Melissen (Netherlands Institute of International Relations, “Clingendael”) and Sharp (University of Minnesota) continue their innovative research journal with a special issue on public diplomacy. Includes articles by:

Kathy Fitzpatrick (Quinnipiac University), “Advancing the New Public Diplomacy: A Public Relations Perspective”

R. S. Zaharna (American University), “The Soft Power Differential: Network Communication and Mass Communication in Public Diplomacy”

Craig Hayden (USC Center on Public Diplomacy), “The Role of Argument Formation”

Pierre C. Pahlavi (McGill University), “Evaluating Public Diplomacy Programme”

Giles Scott-Smith, (University of Lancaster), “The Ties That BInd: Dutch-American Relations, U.S. Public Diplomacy and the Promotion of American Studies Since the Second World War”

Barry Fulton (George Washington University), “Practitioners’ Perspectives: Geo-Social Mapping of the International Communications Environment or Why Abdul Isn’t Listening”

(Available by subscription)

Andras Szanto, ed. “What Orwell Didn’t Know: Propaganda and the New Face of American Politics,” Public Affairs, 2007. Twenty prominent scholars and journalists use the 60th anniversary of George Orwell’s classic essay, “Politics and the English Language,” to assess the role of the media and political communication today — and “to chart the complex topography of propaganda withn the new landscape of American politics.” Includes an indtroduction by Orville Schelle and essays by Geoffrey Cowan, Mark Danner, Farnaz Fassihi, Francis Fitzgerald, Konstanty Gebert, Susan Harding, Martin Kaplan, George Lakoff, Nicholas Lemann, Michael Massing, Victor Navasky, Aryeh Neier, Alice O’Connor, Francine Prose, David Rieff, George Soros, Drew Westen, and Patricia J. Williams. The essays by David RieffNicholas Lemann, and Geoffrey Cowan can also be found in The Columbia Journalism Review (November/December 2007).

Sherry Ricchiardi“Covering the World,” American Journalism Review, December 2007/January 2008, 32-39. AJR’s Ricchardi continues her long-time interest in global news coverage with an in-depth look at the overseas operations of the Associated Press. Her article profiles personalities and looks at AP’s evolving approaches to priorities, training, news analysis, and the safety of reporters.

Walter R. Roberts, “What is Public Diplomacy? Past Practices, Present Conduct, Possible Future,” Mediterranean Quarterly, Fall 2007, Vol. 18, No. 4. Roberts (public diplomat, teacher, and co-founder of GW’s Public Diplomacy Institute) continues his inquiry into the history and meaning of public diplomacy as practiced by the United States during the 20th century. His article develops judgments on the relevance of this history to the future of diplomacy and the policy process. Available by subscription.

Marc SagemanLeaderless Jihad: Terror Networks in the Twenty-First Century, (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008). The author of Understanding Terror Networks (2004) analyzes the evolution of terror networks into more fluid and scattered global leaderless networks connected by the Internet — “a multitude of informal local groups trying to emulate their predecessors by conceiving and executing operations from the bottom up.” Sagemen challenges many of the central tenets of a militarized and excessively ideological U.S. strategy against terrorist networks. His strategic proposals assume that global Islamist terrorism is a self-limiting threat and draw on lessons from George Kennan’s containment logic. Central to his recommendations are demilitarization of the conflict, steps that “take the glory out of terrorism,” policy actions that reduce moral outrage, less emphasis on ideology and religion, and elimination of social and economic discrimination against Muslims, particularly in Western Europe.

“Smart Power: John J. Hamre Talks with Joseph Nye and Richard Armitage,” The American Interest, Vol. III, No. 2, November/December 2007, pp. 34-41. Nye (Harvard) and Armitage (former Deputy Secretary of State) respond to questions from Hamre (President and CEO of the Center for Strategic and International Studies) on the report of the Center’s Commission on Smart Power. Contains their definitions of smart power and public diplomacy, their views on threats and opportunities in national security strategy, and a summary of key judgments in the report co-chaired by Nye and Armitage. Available by subscription.

J. Michael WallerThe Public Diplomacy Reader, (Washington, DC: The Institute of World Politics Press, 2007). Professor Waller (Institute of World Politics) has compiled a collection of approximately 150 short readings — “slices of public diplomacy” from thinkers, practitioners, presidents, advisory panels, and legislation — with a primary focus on the American public diplomacy tradition (from the Continental Congress to the present). Categories include definitions and uses of public diplomacy, the power of ideas and values, truth and trust, cultural diplomacy, humanitarian public diplomacy, religion and public diplomacy, broadcasting, words and language, psychological planning and strategy, public diplomacy and propaganda, counterpropaganda, public diplomacy after 9/11, technology, citizens as public diplomats, and legal texts.

Issue #35

Simon AnholtCompetitive Identity: The New Brand Management for Nations, Cities, and Regions, Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. The originator of the phrase “nation branding” revises and expands his idea of “brand management.” Categories in his “hexagon of competitive identity” include tourism, brands, policy, investment, culture, and people. Contains Anholt’s assessment of public diplomacy, a “theory of competitive identity,” and “a sketch of the main drivers, challenges and opportunities in the field, interspersed with case notes.”

Thomas Carothers, et al. A Conversation Continued: Debating Democracy,” National Interest online, July 1, 2007 [Also in The National Interest, Jul./Aug. 2007, 8-13]. The Carnegie Endowment’s democracy expert contends that despite a “gleaming edifice around democracy promotion,” the notion that it “plays a dominant role in Bush [foreign] policy is a myth.” The irony, Carothers suggests, is that the administration has soured many in and outside the U.S. on the value of support for democracy while having “only a limited engagement in democracy promotion.” Needed is a searching debate on how the U.S. can get back on track with bipartisan support for a legitimate democracy agenda. The online edition contains replies and contrasting views from Andrew Bacevich (Boston University), Wayne Merry (American Foreign Policy Council), Robert W. Merry (Congressional Quarterly), and Amitai Etzioni (George Washington University).

Steven R. Corman, Angela Trethewey, and Bud GoodallA 21st Century Model for Communication in the Global War of Ideas: From Simplistic Influence to Pragmatic Complexity, Report #0701, Consortium for Strategic Communication. The authors argue that US strategic communication efforts rely on an outdated “message influence model” that focuses problematically on “simply delivering the right message.” They offer a new “pragmatic complexity model” based on four principles: “(1) Deemphasize control and embrace complexity, (2) replace repetition with variation, (3) consider disruptive motives, and (4) expect and plan for failure.”

Ingrid d’HoogeThe Rise of China’s Public Diplomacy, Clingendael Diplomacy Paper 12, July 2007, 36 pp, Clingendael Diplomatic Studies Programme (CDSP), The Hague. d’Hooge, a China specialist and senior research associate at CDSP, concludes that China’s leaders are using “more time, money, and effort” to deal with its “problematic image” in many parts of the world. “An increasing number of Chinese individuals and civil society groups are participating in global networks with public and private actors, bringing new dynamics to China’s interaction with the world. China’s government, for its part, seeks to incorporate these new dynamics into its public diplomacy strategy.” A summary is available online. The paper can be ordered by email from Clingendael.

James, J. F. Forest, ed. Countering Terrorism and Insurgency in the 21st Century, Vol. 1, Strategic and Tactical Considerations, Vol. 2, Containing the Sources and Facilitators, Vol. 3, Lessons from the Fight Against TerrorismPraeger Security International, 2007. Edited by the Director of Terrorism Studies at the U.S. Military Academy, this ambitious 3-volume set contains 85 essays and case studies.

The Table of Contents, Editors Note, and Preface to each volume are available online.

– Six chapters in Vol. 1 appear under the heading, “Soft Power.”

– Robert J. Pauly, Jr. (University of Southern Mississippi) and Robert Redding (U.S. Army), “Denying Terrorists Sanctuary Through Civil Military Operations,” Chapter 14.

– James S. Robbins (National Defense University), “Battlefronts in the War of Ideas,” Chapter 15.

– Maha Azzam-Nusseibeh (Chatham House, London), “The Centrality of Ideology in Counterterrorism Strategies in the Middle East,” Chapter 16.

– Bruce Gregory (George Washington University), “Public Diplomacy as Strategic Communication,” Chapter 17.

– Timothy L. Thomas (Foreign Military Studies Office, Fort Leavenworth ), “Cyber Mobilization: The Neglected Aspect of Information Operations and Counterinsurgency Doctrine,” Chapter 18.

– Jerrold M. Post (George Washington University), “The Key Role of Psychological Operations in Countering Terrorism,” Chapter 19.

Michele M. FugielU.S. Public Diplomacy and the American Experience: A Theoretical Evolution from Consent to Engagement, M.A. Thesis, University of London, September 2005. The author examines U.S. public diplomacy in the context of concepts of political power and limitations in the U.S. public diplomacy model. She calls for a model in which the roles of government and civil society “must be reflexive,” and urges “domestic development of critical consciousness and a dialogic understanding of learning.”

Daniel Kimmage and Kathleen RiodolfoThe War of Images and Ideas: How Sunni Insurgents in Iraq and Their Supporters Worldwide are Using the Media, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Special Report, June 2007. Key findings: (1) Sunni insurgents in Iraq and their supporters worldwide are using the Internet to pursue a media campaign directed at educated, influential segments of the Arab world; (2) media content is a high quality mix of news, religion, and entertainment aimed at the video game generation and a wide variety of traditional and next generation Internet consumers; (3) Iraq’s insurgent media are used by mainstream Arab media and global jihadist media; and (4) the Sunni insurgents’ media network is decentralized, fast-moving, and technologically adaptive. The report contains numerous graphics and can be downloaded in pdf format.

Kristin M. Lord“U.S. Public Diplomacy: Can Science Help?” Foreign Service Journal, July/August, 2007, 14-15. Lord, Associate Dean of George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, urges enhanced cooperation between the State Department’s science and technology experts and America’s scientific community in programs to engage foreign scientists, engineers, and doctors on global issues: health, water, pollution, conservation, and clean energy. In so doing, the U.S. can leverage expertise in State (and nine other U.S. agencies with extensive foreign programs) in a public diplomacy of deeds on issues which are global and linked by common interests.

Iver B. Neumann“‘A Speech That the Entire Ministry May Stand for,’ or Why Diplomats Never Produce Anything New,” International Political Sociology (2007) 1, 183-200. Drawing on speech writing practices in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oslo University professor Neumann contends that foreign ministry speeches are identity building projects “with the resulting text serving as an instantiation of the Ministry itself.” Speech writing practices are for the most part a closed process, wherein each part of the ministry seeks to demonstrate the importance of its area of responsibility. Attention to audience is limited. He concludes that change will reach the interior of a foreign ministry from its margins, “where the cost of non-adaptibility is most keenly felt.” Change in diplomacy therefore will likely “be initiated by politicians, not by diplomats themselves.”

Robert B.Oakley and Michael Casey, JrThe Country Team: Restructuring America’s First Line of Engagement, Strategic Forum No. 227, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University, forthcoming July 2007. The authors challenge the conventional wisdom that U.S. embassy country teams generally operate well compared with organizations and interagency processes in Washington. Unprecedented transnational threats and weak governance in fragile states “do not fall neatly into diplomacy’s traditional categories:” political, public diplomacy, economic, consular. Interagency collaboration is often “a hit or miss proposition, due to diluted authority, antiquated organizational structures, and insufficient resources.” Experts collaborating on the study: John Agoglia, Gary Anderson, Michael S. Bell, Robert Feidler, Robert Grenier, Donald Hays, Princeton Lyman, John McLaughlin, Robert Pearson, Anthony Quainton, David Rhoad, Michael Welken, Anne Witkowsky, and Casimir Yost..

Project on National Security Reform (PNSR). PNSR is non-partisan initiative established to study and make recommendations to change the National Security Act of 1947 and to implement “comprehensive reform of the regulatory, statutory, and Congressional oversight authorities that govern the interagency system.” Information on the project’s sponsors, working groups, case studies, literature reviews, and events are available on its website.

Al Richman. [www.publicopinionpros.com/features/2007/Jul/richman_printable.asp “Diplomacy Challenges in Denying Iran Nuclear Weapons,”Public Opinion Pros, July/August, 2007. Former State Department and USIA public opinion research analyst Richman assesses eight recent multi-country surveys on world opinion toward a nuclear-armed Iran and prospects for the U.S. to partner with other nations in handling this issue. The first section includes international survey data on the perceived threat posed by a nuclear-armed Iran and the mix of pressures and incentives preferred by different publics to deal with this threat. The second section identifies those publics most likely to work with the United States and the various tracks diplomacy could take to dissuade Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Dennis RossStatecraft and How to Restore America’s Standing in the World, Farrar, Strauss, Giroux, 2007. Veteran diplomat and Middle East negotiator Ross offers an informed primer on statecraft, which he defines as “knowing how best to integrate and use every asset or military, diplomatic, intelligence, public, economic, or psychological tool we possess (or can manipulate) to meet our objectives.” Ross provides a well written analysis of methods and issues, case studies, and judgments on the uses of statecraft in a world were non-state actors and a globalizing world present new challenges. His assessment of negotiating strategies includes an appreciation of the media and public diplomacy. In retrospect, he states candidly that during his negotiations in the Clinton years, “I was far to cautious in using the media to set a tone and convey messages to all sides and their publics.”

Anne-Marie SlaughterThe Idea That Is America: Keeping Faith with Our Values in a Dangerous World, Basic Books, 2007. The Dean of Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School asks and answers the question: “How should we stand for our values in the world in a way that is consistent with our values?” Her chapters in this slim volume deal with liberty, democracy, equality, justice, tolerance, humility, and faith. “If we are serious that our greatest strength is not in our army, our land, or our wealth,” she argues, “but is instead in our values, then we must rethink a whole set of current strategies and practices to reflect and promote those values.”

David StevenEvaluation and the New Public Diplomacy, Presentation to the Future of Public Diplomacy Conference, Wilton Park, UK, March 2, 2007. Steven, Managing Director of River Path Associates and a consultant with the UK’s Public Diplomacy Board, discusses “a system for measuring public diplomacy performance” and a research agenda presented to the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, British Council, and BBC World Service.

U.S. National Strategy for Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communication, Strategic Communication and Public Diplomacy Policy Coordinating Committee (PCC), June 2007. Directed and released by Karen Hughes, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs and chair of the PCC (created by the National Security Council in April, 2006), the strategy provides a statement of “mission and priorities,” “strategic objectives,” “strategic audiences,” and “public diplomacy priorities” (including a “diplomacy of deeds”); descriptions of “the overall mechanism by which we coordinate public diplomacy across the interagency community” and “initial communication activities;” and a call for “significantly increased funding for all public diplomacy and strategic communication programs.”

U.S. General Accountability OfficeU.S. Public Diplomacy: Actions Needed to Improve Strategic Use and Coordination of Research, July 18, 2007, GAO-07-904. GAO’s recent addition to its substantial collection of public diplomacy studies reviews research activities conducted by State, USAID, DoD, Fort Bragg, MacDill AFB, BBG, Open Source Center, and the British government. GAO’s key finding: “DoD and USAID use program-specific research to design, implement, and evaluate the impact of thematic communication efforts created to influence the attitudes and behaviors of target audiences. In contrast, we found that State has generally not adopted a research-focused approach to implement its thematic communication efforts.” Deficiencies in all agencies include lack of systematic means to assess user needs and satisfaction and lack of interagency protocols for sharing information. The report was requested by Senator Richard Luger.

Linton WellsStrategic Communications and the Battle of Ideas: Winning the Hearts and Minds in the Global War Agains Terrorists, Statement before the Subcommittee on Terrorism and Unconventional Threats and Capabilities, House Armed Services Committee, July 11, 2007. National Defense University professor Wells (until recently Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration) discusses: (1) “The importance of strategic communication and the need to synchronize deeds and words;” (2) “A summary of U.S. Government strategic communication initiatives, limitations, challenges, and successes;” (3) “The importance of non-governmental actions in strategic communication;” and (4) “Some ways ahead.”

Additional statements on strategic communication at the Subcommittee’s July 11 hearing include:

Franklin D. Kramer, Distinguished Research Fellow, Center for Technology and National Security Policy,“Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities.”

Amy Zalman, (Policy Analyst, Science Applications International Corporation), “Strategic Communications and the Battle of Ideas.”

Gem From The Past

This list will occasionally include older resources that have continuing value for teachers, students, and practitioners. Some items may be out of print.

Glen FisherMindsets: The Role of Culture and Perception in International Relations, Intercultural Press, 1988. Combining credentials as a scholar and twenty-two years in the Foreign Service, Fisher draws on anthropology, social psychology, and other academic disciplines to argue the importance of understanding cultures and “mindsets” in diplomacy and international engagement. Fisher’s short well-written volume contains chapters on perception and reasoning in psychological process, cultural patterns, and practical advice for “diagnosing mindsets.”

Issue #34

Gal Beckerman“The New Arab Conversation,” Columbia Journalism Review, January/February 2007, 17-23. Beckerman, a writer for [www.cjrdaily.org CJR Daily], looks at the small but growing Arab blogosphere. Young bloggers in the Middle East, writing mostly in Arabic but also in English, talk about their lives and a broad range of political and cultural issues. While it is easy to find bloggers who promote hatred and violence, Beckerman sees hope in the “young insiders-outsiders of the Middle East blogging openly about their frustrations with the Arab world . . . as a way of liberalizing their societies.”

W. Lance Bennett, Regina G. Lawrence, and Steven LivingstonWhen the Press Fails: Political Power and the News Media from Iraq to Katrina, (The University of Chicago Press, 2007), 263 pages. Professors Bennett (University of Washington), Lawrence (Portland State University), and Livingston (George Washington University) take a critical look at the press as “a silent and uncomfortable partner” with Bush administration narratives on the response to 9/11, the buildup to war in Iraq, and the Abu Ghraib scandal. The authors examine a variety of reasons for the “tendency of the press to record rather than critically examine” the actions and statements of government. They conclude with an assessment of the consequences of “press-government dependence” and suggestions of ways for the press to change its practices and carry out its responsibilities in a democracy.

James Dobbins, Seth G. Jones, Keith Crane, Beth Cole DeGrasseThe Beginner’s Guide to Nation-Building, (RAND Corporation, 2007). Ambassador Dobbins and his colleagues provide a doctrine for nation-building based on their analysis of “best practices” in 24 case studies of nation-building operations conducted by the US, Europe, and the United Nations. Public diplomacy students and teachers will find especially useful chapters on rule of law, governance, and democratization.

Peter J. Katzenstein and Robert O. Keohane., eds. Anti-Americanism in World Politics, (Cornell University Press, 2007). Katzenstein (Cornell) and Keohane (Princeton), two of America’s leading international relations scholars, have brought together a remarkable collection of theoretical essays and case studies that focus on anti-Americanism as a range of phenomena that vary greatly in behavior and geographical context. Especially useful are three overview essays by Katzenstein and Keohane and an essay by Marc Lynch (Williams College) on anti-Americanism in the Arab world. The editors’ central theme is the “persistence of varied anti-Americanisms. . . that wax and wane with political events in different rhythms, in different parts of the world, in countries with very different politics.” Why? “America is polyvalent.” Its diversity of values and ways of living serve as objects of approval and disapproval over time.

Joshua KurlantzickCharm Offensive: How China’s Soft Power is Transforming the World, (Yale University Press, 2007). Veteran Asia correspondent and Carnegie Endowment scholar Kurlantzick looks at China’s increasing use of public diplomacy, trade incentives, cultural and educational exchanges, a younger generation of language-qualified diplomats, Confucius Centers, language schools, and media outreach “to project a benign national image, position itself as a model of social and economic success, and develop stronger national alliances.” His book looks also at China’s efforts to take advantage of US policy mistakes and the implications for US strategies and public diplomacy.

Jan Melissen, ed. The New Public Diplomacy, (Palgrave Macmillan, Paperback Edition, September 2007. Palgrave Macmillan’s decision to issue Melissen’s important book in an affordable paperback edition is good news for students, teachers, and all who are interested in public diplomacy as a developing field of study. This strong collection, edited by the Director of the Clingendael Diplomatic Studies Programme in The Hague, includes Melissen’s lead essay and contributions from Brian Hocking, Peter van Ham, Alan K. Henrikson, Ingrid d’Hooghe, Paul Sharp, Anna Michalski, Cynthia Schneider, Wally Olins, Shaun Riordan, and John Hemry. Their essays support the proposition that public diplomacy is “more than a technical instrument of foreign policy: it has become part of the changing fabric of international relations.”

Mathew MoneyhonReinvigorating US Public Diplomacy: A Review of Recent Studies, Draft Working Paper for the Princeton Project on National Security, May 13, 2005. This summary and analysis of key recommendations in most of the government and private sector reports on public diplomacy issued between 2001 and 2005 was prepared as a research paper for the Princeton National Security project. Available online, it is a useful companion to Public Diplomacy: A Review of Past Recommendations, prepared subsequently by Susan B. Epstein and Lisa Mages for the Congressional Reference Service, October 31, 2005.

Joseph S. Nye and Anne-Marie Slaughter, Co-chairs, Report of the Working Group on Foreign Policy Infrastructure and Global Institutions. Princeton Project on National Security, September 27, 2006. Nye (Harvard) and Slaughter (Princeton) provide an imaginative analysis of 21st century threats and opportunities, governance, soft power, public diplomacy, information technologies, and the implications of information abundance. They call for an infrastructure that enables “national security officials to play chess on two boards at once, with state and non-state actors, in the face of a very fast time-clock and rapidly changing rules.”

“Instead of creating new bureaucracies, the United States must link existing ones. Instead of creating vertical command structures, it must build horizontal networks and direct them from the center outward rather than from the top down or the bottom up. Instead of building all new capacity within government, America must learn to use government to harness the capacities of domestic and foreign private and nonprofit actors.”

Joseph S. Nye, JrUnderstanding International Conflicts: An Introduction to Theory and History, (Longman Classics in Political Science, 2007). The 6th edition of Professor Nye’s valuable text has been updated with new material on constructivist theory and soft power, globalization, information technologies, terrorism and other transnational threats, conflicts on energy, intervention, and American power. Nye’s gift for linking theory and history illuminates recent events in Iraq and Afghanistan, the rise of China, and the growing importance of non-state actors.

Sherry Ricchiardi“Iron Curtain Redux,” American Journalism Review, February/March, 2007, 50-57. AJR’s Ricchiardi brings her long experience in covering global news to an examination of today’s media climate in Russia. Includes an in-depth look at government pressures on indigenous and foreign news organizations, including VOA and RFE/RL, and circumstances surrounding the death of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

Sherry Ricchiardi“Obstructed View,” American Journalism Review, April/May, 26-33. Drawing on interviews with a range of journalists reporting from Iraq, Ricchiardi concludes that extraordinary danger and high security costs have “seriously compromised” coverage of the war.

Louise RichardsonWhat Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat, (Random House, 2006). Richardson (Radcliffe/Harvard) provides a welcome addition to the long shelf of books on terrorism. She provides a rigorous definition; a historically based examination of terrorist psychology, motives, and political strategies; and a reasoned critique of US strategic and political responses to the attacks of 9/11,including her judgments on deficiencies in the so-called “war of ideas.” Richardson argues US actions were based on a fundamental misconception of why terrorists act. She notes that she has moderated her views on “preserving the distance between government policy and academic research.” Had US policies been informed by the views of the terrorism studies community, she argues, those policies would have been very different.

Richard J. SchmiererIraq: Policy and Perceptions, Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Georgetown University, 2007. Schmierer, a senior US public diplomacy professional on a teaching and research assignment at Georgetown, examines the background to the “Iraq issue” during the 1990s, events leading to war in 2003, and factors in play in the years since. Drawing on interviews with scholars, practitioners, and journalists — and on his 27 years in the Foreign Service — he offers thoughts and insights on challenges facing the Arab world and democratic societies.

Rupert SmithThe Utility of Force: The Art of War in the Modern World, (Alfred A. Knopf, 2007). With insights from a forty-year career with the British army and service in the Gulf War, Bosnia, Kosovo, Northern Ireland, and NATO, General Smith offers a tightly reasoned argument for understanding war as a paradigm shift from interstate industrial war to — “war amongst the people.” He calls for radically new thinking about war as political and military struggles where combatants do not wear uniforms and where “engagements can take place anywhere: in the presence of civilians, against civilians, in defence of civilians.” In Smith’s new paradigm, the ends of war “are changing from the hard objectives that decide a political outcome to those of establishing conditions in which the outcome may be decided.” Useful for his analysis of post-Cold War cases, basic trends, communication and media, and strategies based on “information being the primary currency of war amongst the people rather than firepower.”

“Symposium, Exporting Democracy: Learning from Iraq?” Dissent, Spring 2007, 40-58. The editors of Dissent posed the following question to eight respondents: “Whatever you think about the Bush administration’s motives, what is to be learned from the Iraq experience about the export — and import — of democracy?”

— Daniele Archibugi (Italian National Research Council and University of London). Exporting democracy through military means “is ethically contradictory and politically ineffective.”

— Ofra Bengio (Tel Aviv University). Germany and Japan after World War II are “completely irrelevant models for Iraq.” Iraqi Kurdistan and enfranchised Shias suggest “a more representative government might be possible.”

— Seyla Benhabib (Yale University). Thought experiment I — the war never started. Thought experiment II — the war takes place (but differently). “One cannot hope to promote democracy abroad if it has supreme contempt for democracy and the rule of law at home.”

— Paul Berman (New York University). “Our role should be to offer solidarity to the authentic liberals of the Arab and Muslim world, who have been horribly betrayed by American and other Western governments and even by the left wing and liberal intellectuals of the West . . . speaking about ideas and ideologies and championing the liberal thinkers . . . [is] far more important in the long run than anything achievable by military or even diplomatic means.”

— Mitchell Cohen (Baruch College and CUNY). “Democracy has preconditions.” Can it be imported and exported successfully? “It depends on where, when, how, and by whom.”

— Thomas Cushman (Wellesley College). The “use of force should not be ruled out a priori because the Iraq war has been so problematic.”

— John Lister (Retired diplomat). “Instead of starting at the top with national elections . . . we could try the opposite approach of working locally . . . It will not be pure democracy in the way we understand it, for years to come. But it does offer hope.”

— Shibley Telhami (University of Maryland and Brookings Institution). “The very American policy that was said to be aimed at spreading democracy increased the conditions that terrify the public and reduced the attraction of democracy itself.”

US General Accountability Office“US Public Diplomacy: Strategic Planning Efforts Have Improved, But Agencies Face Significant Implementation Challenges,”Statement of Jess T. Ford before the House Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight, GAO-07-795T, April 26, 2007. In a summary of past reports, GAO addresses (1) negative consequences that groups have associated with anti-Americanism, (2) strategic planning, coordination, and measurement issues, and (3) challenges in implementing public diplomacy and international broadcasting. The GAO findings highlight lack of a government-wide communication strategy, the need for an integrated State Department strategy, lack of enhanced performance indicators for State and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), and needed improvements in the BBG’s audience research methodology.

Amy Zalman“Waging the First Postmodern War: Inside the G.I. Cultural Awareness Program,” World Policy Journal, Vol. XXIII, No. 4,Winter 2006/7, 35-42. Zalman, a writer for The New York Times online and part time professor of modern Middle Eastern history at The New School, examines the Pentagon’s 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review and changes in the U.S. military’s thinking about cultural awareness, language skills, and public diplomacy. She calls on the U.S. to “self-reflectively assess the actions it takes to engage foreign cultures” and argues that a “culturally aware military can promote conflict resolution.” Her article focuses on troop training and State Department public diplomacy programs.