The Creation of the USIA and the Fate of U.S. Public Diplomacy

Abstract

This chapter examines the role played by the United States Information Agency (USIA) in shaping the philosophy of U.S. public diplomacy. It considers how the emergence of U.S. public diplomacy coincided with—and stemmed from—a profound transformation in the nature of the country's foreign policy and foreign relations. It places the U.S. government's quest to build a vibrant program in public diplomacy within the context of the process of defining the image of “America” to the world. It also analyzes the political and ideological battles that afflicted the entire enterprise of public diplomacy from 1936 to 1953 before concluding with a discussion of the debate over the role of government propaganda in U.S. public diplomacy.