Book Description
This thesis seeks to construct a new strategic framework for future U.S. public diplomacy to the Middle East. It origins began with considering the question "what has gone wrong with America's current public diplomacy to the Middle East?", which then generated four guiding questions: first, "what ought to be the role of public diplomacy in relation to policymaking"; second, "what goals are appropriate for sound public diplomacy strategy"; third, "should overall public diplomacy focus on short-term or long-term interests"; and fourth, "what are goal-appropriate methods for future public diplomacy implementation?" Through rigorous comparisons and criticism of the current literature in the field, evaluation of relevant polling and historical data, and an examination of several case studies, the author is confident he has sufficiently answered those guiding questions. A new public diplomacy that complements and advocates policy, that focuses on long-term goals, and that applies incremental and subtle methods composes a new strategic framework to better benefit U.S. national interests.