United States Information Program

Author : Nicholas J. Cull
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521142830
Total Pages : 568 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (428 download)

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Download or read book The Cold War and the United States Information Agency written by Nicholas J. Cull and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2009-11-16 with total page 568 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Published at a time when the U.S. government's public diplomacy is in crisis, this book provides an exhaustive account of how it used to be done. The United States Information Agency was created in 1953 to "tell America's story to the world" and, by engaging with the world through international information, broadcasting, culture and exchange programs, became an essential element of American foreign policy during the Cold War. Based on newly declassified archives and more than 100 interviews with veterans of public diplomacy, from the Truman administration to the fall of the Berlin Wall, Nicholas J. Cull relates both the achievements and the endemic flaws of American public diplomacy in this period. Major topics include the process by which the Truman and Eisenhower administrations built a massive overseas propaganda operation; the struggle of the Voice of America radio to base its output on journalistic truth; the challenge of presenting Civil Rights, the Vietnam War, and Watergate to the world; and the climactic confrontation with the Soviet Union in the 1980s. This study offers remarkable and new insights into the Cold War era.