Us Public Diplomacy and Democratization in Spain ― Selling Democracy?

When the post-war relationship began, Spain was an unlikely candidate for American influence. By the end of the 30s, the Franco dictatorship had adopted Fascist symbols and made common cause with the Axis nations. In 1948, Cold war concerns prompted a slow rapprochement in between Washington and Madrid, leading to the instauration of U.S. military bases in Spanish territory. Both countries had done a political conjuring trick and formalized a marriage of convenience. This volume examines the several US public diplomacy strategies to accomplish an almost impossible mission: to keep a warm relation with a friendly tyrant without drifting apart from Spanish opposition to the dictatorship, and eventually to pave the way for transition to democracy.

Francisco J. Rodriguez works at University of Salamanca, Spain; formerly, was postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University, and Fulbright Visiting Scholar at George Washington University. His areas of concentration are: Public Diplomacy, Spain-United States relations. Among his publications, II Republica, Reforma Agraria y Represion (2013, together with Riesco and Pintor) '?Antitodo Contra el Antiamericanismo? (2010); and Estrategias de Diplomacia Cultural en un Mundo Interpolar (2015) co-edited with Elisa Gavari.

Lorenzo Delgado works at Instituto de Historia (CSIC, Madrid), Spain. Formerly was Research Fellow at Universite de Paris I-Sorbonne, and Researcher Participant in the U.S. International Visitor Program. His areas of expertise are: Spanish International Relations, Public Diplomacy and Cultural Action Abroad. Among his publications: Westerly wind: The Fulbright Program in Spain (2009); Espana y Estados Unidos en el siglo XX (2005, co-edited with M. Dolores Elizalde).

Nicholas J. Cull is profesor of Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California, USA, where he directs a master's program in public diplomacy. He is originally from the UK and is well known as a historian of the political uses of media and popular culture. His books include The Cold War and the United States Information Agency: American Propaganda and Public Diplomacy, 1945-1989 (2008) and The Decline and Fall of the United States Information Agency: American Public Diplomacy, 1989-2001 (2012).