Latest Must-Reads in Public Diplomacy: September 2026

CPD Faculty Fellow Bruce Gregory has compiled a list of the latest must-reads in public diplomacy. Known affectionately at CPD as "Bruce's List," this list is a compilation of books, journal articles, papers and blog posts on a wide variety of PD topics. Topics from the latest list include music diplomacy, national reputation and strategic narratives, cultural diplomacy through books, sports diplomacy, country branding, exchange programs, and the evolving public diplomacy challenges facing the United States.

Jen McAndrew, Music Diplomacy and Network Effects: Strategies for Amplifying Influence, CPD Perspectives, USC Center on Public Diplomacy, August 2026. McAndrew (Berklee College of Music, US Foreign Service officer, 2009-2026) combines scholarship and practitioner experience in this insightful examination of constructing music exchanges, not as one-time events with momentary value, but as network-building initiatives with enduring soft power influence. Her article discusses relevant network theory and music’s structural properties and cross-cultural appeal. It provides a framework for designing exchanges that generate self-sustaining networks, examples of network models in music exchanges, and tools and methods for measuring effects. Through examples and informed advice for practitioners, McAndrew explores issues in designing music exchanges for peer-to-peer exchanges, regionally focused and genre-based communities, platforms-meditated exchanges using digital technologies, and scale free networks that leverage highly connected influencer-artists. Her article also offers good counsel on aligning network design with policy goals and effective evaluation.

Phillip Arceneaux and Mitchell Hobbs, “Grand Strategy and Reputational Security: Evaluating the Strategic Narratives of Global Ireland 2025,”  Public Relations Review, Vol. 52, Issue 4, November 2026. Arceneaux (Miami University, Ohio) and Hobbs (University of Sydney) argue that public diplomacy is a category of political public relations informed by public relations theory and carried out by communication professionals in government. Governments gain legitimacy and reputational security through cultivation of allies, accumulation of positive sentiment, and strategic actions, messaging, and narratives intended to preemptively respond to reputational threats. In this article, they test their ideas through a case study of Global Ireland 2025, a whole of government political public relations strategy intended to overcome reputational damage brought by Ireland’s 2008-2018 economic and financial collapse. Following a literature review, the authors discuss diverse meanings of grand strategy in public relations and public diplomacy, concepts of narrative theory and organizational storytelling, a conceptual framework for understanding reputational security, and their methodology. They explore these conceptual themes and research questions in an analysis of the Irish government’s strategy. Their article is helpful both for its theoretical inquiry into the meaning of reputational security, its examination of public diplomacy as “the professionalization of public relations in international relations,” and its insights for public relations and public diplomacy practitioners.

Holly Swenson, “The British Book Export Scheme, 1939-1951,” Book History, Vol. 29, No. 1, 94-129. Swenson (Northwestern University) examines a collaborative effort by the government-funded British Council and British commercial book publishers to export English language books to achieve cultural and commercial goals during World War II. Books were distributed to Iraq, Brazil, Peru, Sweden, Iran, and dozens of other countries. Titles included contemporary fiction, biographies, children’s books, and technical books on engineering, law, and medicine. A venture in which the state actively supported commercial interests proved to be unsustainable for both government officials and publishers, and it was terminated in 1951. Swenson argues the experience was a significant factor in shaping the predominantly noncommercial character of British cultural diplomacy. The project was a harbinger of the Cold War collaboration between American publishers and the US Information Agency, Radio Free Europe, and the CIA-funded Congress for Cultural Freedom during and after the Cold War. (Suggested by Nick Cull, University of Southern California)

“Statement of Sarah Rogers, Nominee for CEO of US Agency for Global Media,”  July 30, 2026. | “Ranking Member Shaheen Opening Remarks for Nominations Hearing for Key Foreign Affairs Positions,” July 30, 2026, US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Marc Fisher, “How Donald Trump Silenced the Voice of America,”  July 30, 2026, The New Yorker.

Jian (Jay) Wang, “The World Cup’s Bigger Story: Public Diplomacy Beyond the Game,”  July 22, 2026, CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy.

Carla Carbrera Cuadrado, “Falling in Love With a Country is not Serendipity, It is Good Public Diplomacy,”  September 3, 2026, CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy.

Zia, Lamia, “The Battle for Trust: America’s Strategic Challenge in Indonesia,”  August, 27, 2026;  “The Quiet Deficit: Time to Revisit America’s Public Diplomacy in Indonesia,”  July 29, 2026, CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy.

Aristyo Rizka Darmawan, “Indonesia’s Global Ambitions Need Public Diplomacy,”  July 20, 2026, CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy.

Ann Romielle Perez, “What Remains After the Exchange?”  September 3, 2026, CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy.

The full edition of Bruce's List can be found here.