I'm going to be out of the country for about the next week and a half and don't count on having Internet access or being able to post during that time. I'll resume posts on or about February 8.
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Joseph S. Tuman: Communicating Terror: The Rhetorical Dimensions of Terrorism
Pricey but well worth it. An excellent introduction to rhetorical analysis as well as a highly original and compelling take on the political aspects of terrorism.
Jon Ronson: The Men Who Stare at Goats
This bizarre expose of "the US military's flirtation with the supernatural" may haunt PD officers for months if not years to come.
Joseph S. Nye: Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics
Joseph S. Nye: The Paradox of American Power: Why the World's Only Superpower Can't Go It Alone
William A. Rugh: Engaging the Arab and Islamic Worlds Through Public Diplomacy
Contributors include Shibley Telhami, Kenton Keith, Barry Fulton, and others.
Mark Danner: Torture and Truth: America, Abu Ghraib, and the War on Terror
NEIL SHEEHAN: A Bright Shining Lie : John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam
Danny Moss: Public Relations Cases: International Perspectives
Cases looked at include Shell's global reputation, BBC's entry to US market, and Florida and tourist safety. Pricey, though - check the used book listings.
Larry Tye: The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays and The Birth of Public Relations
This PR pioneer's exploits included helping the United Fruit Co. 'handle' Guatemala. He's the poster boy for the dark side of PR.
Philip Seib: Beyond the Front Lines : How the News Media Cover a World Shaped by War
Walter Lippmann: PUBLIC OPINION
Project Gutenberg offers a free e-text: (www.gutenberg.org/etext/6546)
Richard Sobel: International Public Opinion and the Bosnia Crisis
Search Amazon for "0739104802" (an ISBN no.) to find listing for paperback edition.
W. Timothy Coombs: Ongoing Crisis Communication : Planning, Managing, and Responding (SAGE Series in Public Relations)
Crisis communication is a hot topic in PR - Coombs is one of the better writers on it.
Raymond Cohen: Negotiating Across Cultures: International Communication in an Interdependent World
Philippe Roger: The American Enemy : The History of French Anti-Americanism
Daniel Yankelovich: The Magic of Dialogue : Transforming Conflict into Cooperation
Written for a business audience, but the principles apply to PD, too.
Robert D. Kaplan: Arabists: The Romance of an American Elite
I'm not a big fan of Kaplan or of this book, but its portrayal of US FSOs (including PD officers) has been influential in DC.
Robert B. Cialdini: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
Written for a US audience interested in consumer behavior, but useful as a starting point for understanding public communication as well.
Chalmers Johnson: Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire
Brian McNair: An Introduction to Political Communication
Focus is on working with news media.
Malcolm Gladwell: The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann: The Spiral of Silence : Public Opinion--Our Social Skin
A classic, influential work, based on research in Germany; it argues that public opinion acts as social control - we repress ideas that run counter to what we sense as majority opinion.
Robert M. Entman: Projections of Power : Framing News, Public Opinion, and U.S. Foreign Policy (Studies in Communication, Media, and Public Opinion)
Focus is on relations with domestic US media, but may be interesting for PD practioners as well.
William Lederer: The Ugly American
According to an Amazon.com reader post, the US Army requires Special Forces soldiers to read this classic novel about US diplomacy, first published in 1959.
Kemal Kurspahic: Prime Time Crime: Balkan Media in War and Peace
Noah Feldman: After Jihad: America and the Struggle for Islamic Democracy
Warren P. Strobel: Late-Breaking Foreign Policy: The News Media's Influence on Peace Operations
William A. Hachten: The World News Prism: Global Media in an Era of Terrorism
Robert Whiting: You Gotta Have Wa (Vintage Departures)
You don't need to know baseball to enjoy this funny, fascinating account of how Japan made baseball its own game - or to pick up insights to cultural dynamics as you read.
Naomi Sakr: Satellite Realms : Transnational Television, Globalization and the Middle East
Dale F. Eickelman: New Media in the Muslim World: The Emerging Public Sphere (Middle East Studies)
William A. Rugh: Arab Mass Media : Newspapers, Radio, and Television in Arab Politics
Mohamed Zayani: The Al Jazeera Phenomenon: Critical Perspectives On New Arab Media
DONALD KAGAN: On the Origins of War : And the Preservation of Peace
James E Hoge & Gideon Rose, eds.: How Did This Happen? Terrorism and the New War
Dated (it appeared within weeks of 9/11) but worth getting hold of just for Michael Scott Doran's contribution, "Somebody Else's Civil War."
Bruce Hoffman: Inside Terrorism
Lucid insights - for example, France's Reign of Terror "was initially viewed as a positive political system that used fear to remind citizens of the necessity of virtue."
Benjamin Barber: Jihad vs. McWorld: How Globalism and Tribalism Are Reshaping the World
For me, Barber's writing gets in the way of his message - but this has been a highly influential book.
Fareed Zakaria: The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad
Robert Cooper: The Breaking of Nations: Order and Chaos in the Twenty-First Century
B. A. Taleb: The Bewildered Herd
An 'e-book' - you download it, in .pdf (Adobe Acrobat) format.
Edward S. Herman, Noam Chomsky: Manufacturing Consent : The Political Economy of the Mass Media
Thomas L. Friedman: The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization
Samuel P. Huntington: The CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS AND THE REMAKING OF WORLD ORDER
A 500-word 'preview' of the original essay is available at Foreign Affairs' Web page (www.foreignaffairs.org).
Zbigniew Brzezinski: The Choice: Global Domination or Global Leadership
"[T]he author's framing theme: how current foreign youths' perceptions of the U.S. will redound fundamentally upon this country's security." (Booklist)
Dietrich Dorner: The Logic of Failure
Dorner explores why people do so poorly managing complex situations - ie, why smart people do dumb things. An enjoyable, engaging read.
Shibley Telhami: Reflections Of Hearts And Minds: Media, Opinion, And Identity In The Arab World (Brookings Series on U.S. Policy Toward the Islamic World)
Forthcoming in July 2005.
Julia A. Clancy-Smith: Rebel and Saint: Muslim Notables, Populist Protest, Colonial Encounters (Algeria and Tunisia, 1800-1904)
This study of 19th century popular resistance to French colonization of North Africa can help us understand current public diplomacy challenges.
Framing Terrorism: The News Media, the Government and the Public
YALE RICHAMOND: Cultural Exchange & The Cold War: Raising The Iron Curtain
Richard T. Arndt: The First Resort Of Kings: American Cultural Diplomacy In The Twentieth Century
Fen Osler Hampson: Madness in the Multitude: Human Security and World Disorder
Edward Bernays: Propaganda
Amazon has a "Better Together" offer pairing this book and Tye's bio of Bernays ("Spin," listed above)
Arch Puddington: Broadcasting Freedom: The Cold War Triumph of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty
Baghdad Burning : Girl Blog from Iraq
See the blog at riverbendblog.blogspot.com.
Victoria de Grazia: Irresistible Empire: America's Advance Through Twentieth-Century Europe
Kishore Mahbubani: Beyond the Age of Innocence: Rebuilding Trust Between America and the World
Dana Lindaman: History Lessons: How Textbooks from Around the World Portray U.S. History
Ian Buruma: Occidentalism: The West in the Eyes of Its Enemies
Walter L. Hixson: Parting the Curtain : Propaganda, Culture, and the Cold War, 1945-1961
Douglas Little: American Orientalism: The United States and the Middle East Since 1945
Frances Stonor Saunders: The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters
Inside a U.S. Embassy: How the Foreign Service Works for America
Ann Marie Clark: Diplomacy of Conscience: Amnesty International and Changing Human Rights Norms.
Margaret E. Keck: Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics
Public Relations As Relationship Management: A Relational Approach to the Study and Practice of Public Relations (Lea's Communication Series)
Also available in paperback.
Anthony Shadid: Night Draws Near : Iraq's People in the Shadow of America's War
Faisal Devji: Landscapes of the Jihad: Militancy, Morality, Modernity
Fawaz A. Gerges: The Far Enemy : Why Jihad Went Global (Cambridge Middle East Studies)
Fawaz A. Gerges: America and Political Islam : Clash of Cultures or Clash of Interests?
Osama bin Laden: Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden
Marc Lynch: Voices of the New Arab Public: Iraq, al-Jazeera, and Middle East Politics Today
Mark LeVine: Why They Don't Hate Us : Lifting the Veil on the Axis of Evil
Anne Garrels: Naked in Baghdad : The Iraq War and the Aftermath as Seen by NPR's Correspondent
An excellent account of war reporting and of the Iraq War by someone who exudes common sense and common decency.
Julia E. Sweig: Friendly Fire: Losing Friends and Making Enemies in the Anti-American Century
T. Christian Miller: Blood Money: Wasted Billions, Lost Lives, and Corporate Greed in Iraq
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