Overview

Strategic public diplomacy, once commonly called propaganda, has existed since the twelfth century, when Richard I, crusading sovereign of England, plucked the eyes from his prisoners and returned them to his arch-rival Saladin--an unmistakable message intended to mold the image that Richard's foreign enemies had of him. Although their methods have grown more sophisticated and gentrified since the Middle Ages, the goal of governments employing strategic public diplomacy has remained essentially the same: to influence public or elite opinion in a foreign country for the purpose of turning the foreign policy of the target country to advantage. The first systematic analysis of the growing foreign public relations industry in the U.S., this remarkable text traces the impact that the political ""image management"" of other nations has had on the American foreign policy agenda. Documenting the evolution of these campaigns in both scale and sophistication, this book includes an analysis of the Justice Department's foreign agent registration records, numerous interviews with journalists, consultants, and key government officials, and a systematic assessment of media content to gauge the effectiveness of these attempts at news management. The author presents and tests elements of a general model of agenda-related communication effects, presenting case studies that illustrate the extent to which the American media are saturated with foreign diplomatic messages, including the recent effort of the Kuwaiti government-in-exile to influence public opinion in the U.S. during the Gulf War, and concludes with an inventory and discussion of the issues raised by the ""export"" of the knowledge-base and skills underlying new, sophisticated communication strategies now being employed on behalf of foreign interests. Based on fifteen years of exhaustive research, this book is ideal for courses in foreign policy, media, and politics.

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9780195087383

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""Just what I have been looking for to use in my graduate course on the U.S. since 1932...""--Linda Addo, North Carolina A&T State University ""A powerful, conceptual work on how foreign countries use and abuse American firms to affect US foreign policy. It may prove to be a seminal study on which others will build to illuminate this area of political communication.""--Michael Turner, US International University ""Your book is both a fascinating account of international public relations and a significant theoretical step forward in agenda setting research... In short, your book will receive numerous enthusiastic recommendations from me.""--Maxwell McCombs, University of Texas at Austin ""Congratulations! It's great! I will add it to the required reading list for all my political communications graduate students.""--Lance Bennett, University of Washington ""An intriguing introduction to agenda setting in the international public relations arena.""--Maxwell McCombs, University of Texas at Austin ""An exceptional book with eye-opening impact on an undergraduate class in Public Relations.""--Germaine Goetz-Sota, Rosary College ""The most significant scholarly work on international public relations to date, so far as I am aware. It is based on thorough research over many years, the most extensive research on this subject any scholar has undertaken, and is likely to be the standard work on an increasingly important and controversial aspect of political communication.""--Daniel C. Hallin, University of California, San Diego

Just what I have been looking for to use in my graduate course on the U.S. since 1932... --Linda Addo, North Carolina A&T State University A powerful, conceptual work on how foreign countries use and abuse American firms to affect US foreign policy. It may prove to be a seminal study on which others will build to illuminate this area of political communication. --Michael Turner, US International University Your book is both a fascinating account of international public relations and a significant theoretical step forward in agenda setting research... In short, your book will receive numerous enthusiastic recommendations from me. --Maxwell McCombs, University of Texas at Austin Congratulations! It's great! I will add it to the required reading list for all my political communications graduate students. --Lance Bennett, University of Washington An intriguing introduction to agenda setting in the international public relations arena. --Maxwell McCombs, University of Texas at Austin An exceptional book with eye-opening impact on an undergraduate class in Public Relations. --Germaine Goetz-Sota, Rosary College The most significant scholarly work on international public relations to date, so far as I am aware. It is based on thorough research over many years, the most extensive research on this subject any scholar has undertaken, and is likely to be the standard work on an increasingly important and controversial aspect of political communication. --Daniel C. Hallin, University of California, San Diego

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