Abstract
At the time of this writing, President Barack Obama just passed the 100th day in office. Already the international reaction to President Obama speaks volumes to the powerful role of the office of the president plays in representing the overall image of the United States to the world. In a global communication era, the mantel of“Communicator in Chief” applies to the international as well as domestic context. Although the Obama administration is only just out of the political starting gate, observers are already noting a pronounced change in U.S. public diplomacy. Some suggest President Obama by his very person represents a game changer for U.S. public diplomacy. As the son of a Muslim father from Kenya, who went on to study at Harvard, Obama’s road to the White House captures the spirit of the American dream.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
Sherry Mueller, “The Nexus of U.S. Public Diplomacy and Citizen Diplomacy,” in N. Snow and P. Taylor (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Public Diplomacy (New York: Routledge, 2008), pp. 101–7.
Ali Fisher and Aurélie Bröckerhoff, Options for Influence, (London: CounterPoint, 2008).
John Robert Kelley, “Between ‘Take-offs’ and ‘Crash Landings,’ ” in Nancy Snow and Philip M. Taylor (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Public Diplomacy (New York: Routledge, 2008), 72–85.
Nicholas Cull, “Public Diplomacy: Taxonomies and Histories,” The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 616, 1 (2008), pp. 31–54.
Geoffrey Cowan and Amelia Arsenault, “Moving from Monologue to Dialogue to Collaboration: The Three Layers of Public Diplomacy,” The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 616, 1 (2008), pp. 10–30.
Afzal Iqbal, The Prophet’s Diplomacy (Delhi: C. Stark, 1984).
Keith Hamilton and Richard Langhorne, The Practice of Diplomacy: Its Evolution, Theory and Administration (New York: Routledge, 1994), p. 9.
What was once taboo for a reputable NGO, becomes acceptable by comparison. Additionally, one of the reasons radical activists are able to employ tactics with little regard for public or official sentiment is because their audience is not external, but rather internal. The radical communication tactics are primarily to recruit and retain like-minded activists. Nation states that try to counter their messages in the public sphere are at a distinct disadvantage. See Tiffany Derville, “Radical activist tactics: Overturning Public Relations Conceptualizations,” Public Relations Review, 31 (2005), pp. 527–33.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2010 R. S. Zaharna
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Zaharna, R.S. (2010). Epilogue. In: Battles to Bridges. Studies in Diplomacy and International Relations. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230277922_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230277922_10
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-30029-7
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-27792-2
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)