Public Diplomacy throughout U.S. History

uscpublicdiplomacy.org

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Although "public diplomacy" is a relatively new concept, having been coined by Edmund Gullion in the 1960s, the practice itself has been around for centuries. Since the United States' inception, the government has used public diplomacy to engage with other countries. A new book by Caitlin E. Schindler, The Origins of Public Diplomacy in U.S. Statecraft, explores the history of public diplomacy in the United States, looking at six case studies from 1776 to 1948. According to the author, "[e]ach case looks specifically at the role foreign public engagement plays in American statecraft, while also identifying trends in American foreign public engagement and making connections between past practice of foreign public engagement and public diplomacy, and analyzing how trends and past practice or experience influenced modern American public diplomacy."

The Origins of Public Diplomacy in U.S. Statecraft is part of the Palgrave Macmillan Series in Public Diplomacy and is available for either e-book or hardcover purchase on the Springer website.

[JB note: For those interested in the many aspects of the complex origins of U.S public diplomacy, allow me to note my piece on "Janus-Faced Diplomacy: Creel and Lippmann During the Great War."]