Inventing Public Diplomacy : The Story of the U.S. Information Agency

A comprehensive, unbiased account of the evolution of public diplomacy within the U.S. foreign policy establishment, ranging from World War II to the present.

In 1941 Orson Welles directed the USIA's first propaganda film—which turned out to have so little to do with the purported topic, US friendship with Latin American nations, that it wasn't distributed. The propaganda agency eventually got a better handle on how to influence world opinion, making use of radio, print, and other media. Dizard's history, which ranges from World War II to the information age, gives a nod to renewed efforts since Sept. 11, 2001, in the face of formidable opposition to the US war in Iraq. Dizard served in the State Department and the USIA from 1951 to 1980. Nine pages of b&w images depict agency-allied events from book fairs to ballet performances to cocktail parties. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Foreign Affairs

This history of the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) could not have come at a better time. Fifteen years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the United States finds itself caught up in an ideological struggle with radical terrorists in the Middle East, and winning hearts and minds is once more at the center of the foreign policy agenda. As Washington busily struggles to re-invent the wheel and develop an approach to ideological combat, a career veteran of the USIA has written a history of U.S. public diplomacy from World War II to 1999, when the USIA was folded into the State Department. Dizard is sometimes too close to his subject: he slips a little too easily into regarding history as a morality play involving farsighted USIA professionals fending off ignorant redneck conservatives, and the tone of clubby reminiscence sometimes cloys. But on the whole, this is an extremely useful, clear, and compact introduction to a vitally important aspect of U.S. foreign policy. A familiarity with this history would save policymakers from repeating some costly mistakes.

"Public diplomacy - the uncertain art of winning public support abroad for one's government and its foreign policy - constitutes a critical instrument of U.S. policy in the wake of the Bush administration's recent military interventions and its renunciation of widely accepted international accords. Wilson Dizard, Jr. offers the first comprehensive account of public diplomacy's evolution within the U.S. foreign policy establishment, ranging from World War II to the present." "Dizard focuses on the U. S. Information Agency and its precursor, the Office of War Information. Tracing the political ups and downs determining the agency's trajectory, he highlights its instrumental role in creating the policies and programs underpinning today's public diplomacy, as well as the people involved. The USIA was shut down in 1999, but it left an important legacy of what works - and what doesn't - in presenting U.S. policies and values to the rest of the world. Inventing Public Diplomacy is a history of U.S. efforts at organized international propaganda."--BOOK JACKET. Public diplomacy - the uncertain art of winning public support abroad for one's government and its foreign policies - constitutes a critical instrument of U.S. policy in the wake of the Bush administration's recent military interventions and its renunciation of widely accepted international accords. Wilson Dizard Jr. offers the first comprehensive account of public diplomacy's evolution within the U.S. foreign policy establishment, ranging from World War II to the present. Dizard focuses on the U.S. Information Agency and its precursor, the Office of War Information. Tracing the political ups and downs determining the agency's trajectory, he highlights its instrumental role in creating the policy and programs underpinning today's public diplomacy, as well as the people involved. The USIA was shut down in 1999, but it left an important legacy of what works and what doesn't in presenting U.S. policies and values to the rest of the world. Inventing Public Diplomacy is an unparalleled history of U.S. efforts at organized international propaganda. Cover Book Title Table of Contents Foreword Preface 1-The United States and Ideological Warfare Notes 2-USIA’s Wartime Origins Notes 3-From Hot War to Cold War Notes 4-USIA: Getting Started Notes 5-The Murrow Years Notes 6-High Summer Notes 7-Playing Bureaucratic Games Notes 8-A Stone’s Throw from the University Notes 9-The Delicate Art of Exporting Culture Notes 10-Sunset Years Notes 11-The Future of Public Diplomacy Notes Selected Bibliography Index About the Book Wilson P. Dizard offers a comprehensive account of public diplomacy's evolution within the US foreign policy establishment, ranging from World War II to the present.