The Decline & Fall of the U.S. Information Agency:  American PD 1989-2001

The USC Center on Public Diplomacy was pleased to host a conversation with Nicholas J. Cull, Director of the Master's Program in Public Diplomacy at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism. Professor Cull discussed his newly released book, The Decline and Fall of the U.S. Information Agency: American Public Diplomacy 1989-2001 (Palgrave MacMillan, 2012). Professor Cull was interviewed by Robert Banks, CPD's former U.S. Diplomat in Residence from 2009-2011 and current instructor in the Master's of Public Diplomacy program.

At a time when issues of international engagement are again at the fore of foreign policy, Cull's book tells the story of how America's apparatus for public diplomacy came to be in disarray. Using newly declassified archives and interviews with practitioners, Professor Cull has pieced together the story of the final decade in the life of the United States Information Agency.

It is both a sorry tale of political neglect and missed opportunities and an account of what America's public diplomats were nevertheless able to accomplish. Key methods examined include Voice of America radio, exchanges, and cultural diplomacy. Major episodes include the transition of Eastern Europe to democracy, the role of public diplomacy in the First Gulf War and Kosovo Wars, the U.S. interventions in Somalia and Haiti, and the build-up to the attacks of 9/11.

About Nicholas J. Cull
Nicholas J. Cull is a professor of Public Diplomacy at USC, where he directs the Master's Program in Public Diplomacy. He has published widely on the history of the media and especially its role in international relations. His previous books include The Cold War and the United States Information Agency: American Propaganda and Public Diplomacy, 1945-1989. He is president of the International Association for Media and History. He is originally from Britain. Please click here to read more.