Battles to Bridges ― Us Strategic Communication and Public Diplomacy After 9/11

Including a new author Preface and Foreword from Nicholas Cull, Professor of Public Diplomacy, University of Southern California, USA.

After the 9/11 attacks, America launched an aggressive battle for hearts and minds in the Islamic world. Yet the more America tried to disseminate its message, the more anti-Americanism grew. U.S. public diplomacy appeared to be alienating the very same audience it sought to woo. Battles to Bridges explores how the rise of networks, culture and identity were undermining America's best efforts and why the Cold War quest for 'information dominance' was proving counter-productive for culturally diverse publics. Strategically, U.S. public diplomacy needed to move from fighting unwinnable information battles to building communication bridges.
This book provides a rich historical review and analysis of the critical post-9/11 period of US public diplomacy and lays the ground work for a relational and network approach to global public diplomacy. Written in an accessible style and grounded in communication theory, this new paperback analyzes the now historic campaign and captures the legacy of lessons for future public diplomats. In an interconnected world of culturally-diverse and identity-sensitive publics, Zaharna argues that mastering relational and networking strategies is key to effective public diplomacy.

R.S. Zaharna is an Associate Professor of Communication at American University in Washington, D.C. and Research Fellow with the Annenberg Center on Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California, USA. She has written extensively on strategic communication and culture, and has addressed audiences in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia on the challenges of public diplomacy in a global communication era.