The Decline and Fall of the United States Information Agency - (Palgrave MacMillan Global Public Diplomacy) by Nicholas J Cull (Hardcover)

About the Book

"At a time when issues of international engagement are again at the fore of foreign policy, this book tells the story of how the United States's apparatus for public diplomacy came to be in disarray. Using newly declassified archives and interviews with practitioners, Nicholas J. Cull has pieced together the story of the final decade in the life of the United States Information Agency. It is both a sorry tale of political neglect and missed opportunities and an account of what America's public diplomats were nevertheless able to accomplish. Major episodes include the transition of Eastern Europe to democracy, the role of public diplomacy in the First Gulf War and Kosovo Wars, the US interventions in Somalia and Haiti, and the buildup to the attacks of 9/11"--

Book Synopsis

Using newly declassified archives and interviews with practitioners, Nicholas J. Cull has pieced together the story of the final decade in the life of the United States Information Agency, revealing the decisions and actions that brought the United States' apparatus for public diplomacy into disarray.

Review Quotes

"In his scholarly and careful but always engaging and readable account of how the end of the Cold War precipitated the fall of the United States Information Agency, Nicholas J. Cull has not only given an account of the strengths and defects of public diplomacy in the first Bush administration and Clinton's two terms, but has also offered a deeper exploration of the role of government-sponsored information and culture in the modern world. I can think of no better way for citizens and public officials to explore such crucial questions than in Nick Cull's invigorating company."

Benjamin R. Barber, senior research scholar, Graduate Center, City University of New York and author of Jihad vs. McWorld

"In this excellent study about the unraveling of the USIA, Nick Cull once again shows the importance of studying the history of public diplomacy. He is a great storyteller with a keen eye for telling details and individuals' contributions to the shaping of US public diplomacy. He makes a convincing case for independent cultural agencies in the execution of public diplomacy."

Jan Melissen, director of research, Clingendael, Netherlands Institute of International Relations, Netherlands

"Nicholas J. Cull continues to produce authoritative, fascinating, and well-documented works on American public diplomacy in general and the USIA in particular. This book is required reading for any scholar, student, or official interested in the fields of Americanforeign policy, public diplomacy, and international communication."

Eytan Gilboa, director of the School of Communication and the Center for International Communication, Bar-Ilan University, Israel

About the Author

Nicholas J. Cull is a professor of Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California.