Books on Public Diplomacy
USIA's Swan Song Publication
United States Information Agency
A Commemoration
This 80-page paperback volume, published September, 1999, was produced by USIA's Public Liaison office during the dying days of USIA. It is a record, however brief, through comments and historic statements of former directors; anecdotes of experiences of active and retired USIA employees; numerous photos; and a chronology of USIA's forty-six years of existence as the public diplomacy arm of the U.S. Government. It contains examples of some of the triumphs, hardships, and lighter moments of those who shared the excitement, satisfaction, and, sometimes, frustrations in carrying out programs that supported U.S. policies and sought to "tell America's story to the world."
SINGLE COPIES of "USIA, A Commemoration," FOR U.S. RESIDENTS AND INSTITUTIONS, WHILE THE SUPPLY LASTS, are available by sending a request to our E-mail address (admin@publicdiplomacy.org ). Include name and address with zip code. Allow up to four weeks for delivery.
Current titles
Harry H. Kendall, A Farm Boy in the Foreign Service: Telling America's Story to the World. AuthorHouse; (September 2003).
The author says, "In my book I have sought to portray the life and work of a rank and file Foreign Service Officer in carrying out the information and cultural activities that formed the essence of public diplomacy during the Cold War era. I also bring in the important roles played by Foreign Service families and by local employees. In writing it I have drawn upon the oral histories of several USIS colleagues to confirm and enrich my story and to give their views on difficult situations that confronted us all wherever we served."
Available from AuthorHouse.
Mark A. Abramson and Therese L. Morin (eds.), E-Government 2003. (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2003).
The book includes a collection of nine research reports sponsored by the IBM Endowment for The Business of Government. Among the papers is a chapter by Barry Fulton entitled "Leveraging
Technology in the Service of Diplomacy: Innovation in the Department of State." The paper is also available on the web at http://endowment.pwcglobal.com/publications.asp
W. Lance Bennett, News: The Politics of Illusion, (New York, Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., 2003).
Fifth edition of this classic with a new foreword by Doris Graber. Updated with new case studies, research, and material on digital information, post 9/11 news issues, and the impact of
the Internet on mass media news.
W. Lance Bennett and David L. Paletz (eds). Taken By Storm: The Media, Public Opinion, and U.S. Foreign Policy in the
Gulf War, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994).
This collection of 13 papers with an introduction by Marvin Kalb describes the role of the mass media and public opinion in the development of U.S. foreign policy in the 1991 Gulf War.
It includes papers by PDI board members Jerry Manheim and Steve Livingston. (Courtesy of Barry Fulton)
Mark Buchanan. Nexus: Small Worlds and the Groundbreaking Science of Networks, (New York: W.W. Norton and Co.,
2002).
This discussion of network theory, accessible to the non-specialist, treats social, technological, and scientific aspects of how networks interact and exchange information. Includes
discussion of the Internet, information networks, the global economy, disease, and ecosystems.
James Dawes. The Language of War: Literature and Culture in the U.S. from the Civil War Through World War II,
(Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2002).
Dawes examines the relationship between language and violence focusing on American literature and two analytical models: The "emancipatory model," derived from political discourse and
deliberative democracy theories, and the "disciplinary model," derived from poststructuralism and concepts of language as a means to discipline and control violence.
David Frum. The Right Man: The Surprise Presidency of George W. Bush (New York, Random House, 2003).
Chapter 9 in this account by a former Presidential speechwriter deals with the Administration's post 9/11 communications efforts. References to Karen Hughes, Karl Rove, Charlotte Beers,
and Norman Pattis. (Courtesy of Dell Pendergrast)
Hilliard Todd Goldfarb, ed. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Richelieu: Art and Power.
This catalog (411 pages) written for the Museum's recent exhibit explores Cardinal Richelieu's use of the visual arts for political purposes. Thoughtful essays on art, history,
psychology, and the subtle use of images to project state power.
Brigitte Nacos, Mass-Mediated Terrorism: The Central Role of the Media in Terrorism and Counterterrorism, (Lanham,
Maryland, Rowman and Littlefield, 2002).
A substantial rewrite of Professor Nacos's (Columbia University) 1996 book on the media and terrorism. Includes extensive research on post 9/11 issues and a restatement of her theories
on the media as terrorism's "oxygen" and "propaganda of the deed."
George Orwell. Essays. (New York, Alfred A. Knopf, Everyman's Library, 2002).
The only hardcover edition of Orwell's literary and political writings. Introduction by John Carey. Includes "The Frontiers of Art and Propaganda," "Politics and the English Language,"
(writing advice worth assigning to undergraduates), and a number of Orwell's BBC World Service commentaries broadcast during World War II.
Sandra Silberstein, War of Words: Language, Politics and 9/11, (New York, Routledge, 2002).
A linguist's critical study of the "strategic deployment of language" by the Bush Administration to build support for the war on terror.
Barbie Zelizer and Stuart Allan, Journalism After September 11, (New York, Routledge, 2002).
Zelizer (Annenberg School, University of Pennsylvania) and Allan (University of the West of England) bring together 15 essays on journalism and crisis, reporting by CNN and other global
news media, Western representations of Islam, online journalism and other topics. Includes essays by James Carey (journalism pre-and post-9/11), Simon Cottle (television), and Ingrid
Volkmer (political crises in a global network society).
Earlier titles
AMERSON, Robert, HOW DEMOCRACY TRIUMPHED OVER DICTATORSHIP: Public Diplomacy in Venezuela American Univ. Press,
Wash.DC 1995
This excellent book is out of print. The author is seeking copies and will purchase some for $15 each. Please inform us or the
author if you have a copy available by sending an e-mail to admin@publicdiplomacy.org or to
the author at robert.amerson@verizon.net
DIZARD Jr, Wilson. DIGITAL DIPLOMACY: U.S. FOREIGN POLICY IN THE INFORMATION AGE
Prager, NY April 2001
Wilson Dizard's latest book describes how the U.S. is the first information-age society, one whose major activity is the
production, storage, and distribution of information , and includes a discussion of implications for public diplomacy.
DOGGETT, Clinton L. and Lois T., THE UNITED STATES INFORMATION AGENCY
Chelsea House, NY 1989
ESTERLINE, John H. and Mae H. INNOCENTS ABROAD, How We Won the Cold War
University Press of America, Lanham, MD 1997
HANSEN, Allen C. USIA, PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN THE COMPUTER AGE 2nd. ed.
Praeger, NY 1989
HITCHCOCK, David I. U.S. PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
(Significant issues Series, vol. 10, no. 17)
Washington: Center for Strategic and International Studies, Wash. DC 1988
JURY, Philomena. A BASEMENT SEAT TO HISTORY: Tales of Covering Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan for the Voice of America. Linus Press, Wash. DC 1995
TUCH, Hans N. COMMUNICATING WITH THE WORLD: U.S. PUBLIC DIPLOMACY OVERSEAS .
St. Martins Press, N.Y., 1990
TUCH, Hans N., ed. COMMUNICATING WITH THE WORLD IN THE 1990s: A Commemorative Symposium . USIA Alumni Assoc. and The Public Diplomacy Foundation. Wash. DC 1994
See also IKE AND USIA, 1991 and THE U.S.--WARTS AND ALL EDWARD R. MURROW. 1992. Excerpts of USIA Alumni Assoc. commemorative symposiums.
This page:
http://www.publicdiplomacy.org/4.htm
Updated: 17 January 2006.
Copyright © 2000-2006. USIA Alumni Association