Publishing Institution: American Diplomacy / Topic: Soft Power

Author:: Gregory Orr
Publication Date:: 11-2020
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: Of all the cultural tools used by the United States Information Agency (USIA) to promote public diplomacy, film had a prominent role. For nearly half a century, the film division at USIA produced, distributed, and sponsored films throughout the world. It is estimated that the USIA archive included nearly 18,000 films distributed to over 150 nations in dozens of languages. They ranged widely in style (documentary, newsreel, animation, educational, and even fiction) and subject matter (social issues, biography, history, the arts, the environment, daily life in America, and sports.)
Topic:: Diplomacy, Media, Film, Soft Power, and Memoir
Political Geography:: United States of America

Author:: Gregory Orr
Publication Date:: 05-2020
Content Type:: Commentary and Analysis
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: In 1987 I joined the United States Information Agency (USIA), a foreign affairs agency whose mission was to engage in public diplomacy with audiences overseas. We liked to say that we wanted “to tell America’s story to the world” via a variety of cultural, educational, and informational programs (e.g. speakers, exchanges, exhibits, and libraries). USIA had a corps of press and cultural officers implementing these programs as well as specialists in areas such as library science and English language programs. As an English language officer, I was expected to promote the learning and teaching of American English as a means of developing mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. I therefore looked forward to my first overseas trip to make contact with the English teaching establishments in Hungary and the Soviet Union.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Culture, Soft Power, Public Policy, and Memoir
Political Geography:: Soviet Union and United States of America

Author:: Nicolai N. Petro
Publication Date:: 04-2018
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: The six Russian national security documents issued since Putin first became president in 2000 display a remarkable conceptual consistency. A careful reading of these documents, the most authoritative statements of Russia’s worldview publicly available, challenges several common Western assumptions.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, National Security, Territorial Disputes, Ideology, and Soft Power
Political Geography:: Russia, Ukraine, North America, and United States of America

Author:: Bob Baker
Publication Date:: 11-2018
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: American Diplomacy
Institution:: American Diplomacy
Abstract:: While many films made by the US Information Agency (USIA) were very useful in Africa to tell about American society and policies, two were not. These two, one about President Kennedy and the other about American agriculture, had the opposite result from that intended. Local African culture distorted the films’ messages.
Topic:: Diplomacy, Film, Soft Power, and Memoir
Political Geography:: Uganda, Africa, North America, and United States of America

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