Adversarial States Explored in Latest PD Magazine

Public Diplomacy Magazine has just released its Winter/Spring 2017 issue on Adversarial States.

Since the advent of the Cold War, governments have understood that even in cases where there is limited or no formal diplomatic relations at the state level there is still a need, if not a greater need, to communicate with the publics of their adversaries. The term “public diplomacy” is itself a byproduct of an adversarial relationship: its modern usage was born out of the United States’ desire to distinguish between the democratic goals of communication and information practices in the West and the perceived psychological and propagandistic motives of the Soviet Union. Thus, public diplomacy is inherently tied to the concept of adversarial states, and its costs and benefits are most often analyzed through the lens of its ability to reduce conflicts and to improve relations between geopolitical foes. 

This issue of PD Magazine examines modern public diplomacy efforts between traditional adversaries, not only in the context of the U.S.’s engagements with its adversaries but also those of rival states from the Middle East to Northern Europe. At a time of seismic changes to the existing international order, these articles shed light on the ability of public engagements to ease or, conversely, exacerbate tensions across the globe.  

Public Diplomacy Magazine is a publication of the Association of Public Diplomacy Scholars (APDS) at the University of Southern California, with support from the USC Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School, USC School of International Relations, and the Annenberg School for Communication.

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