Latest Must-Reads in Public Diplomacy

To start off the new year, Bruce Gregory has published the January 2016 edition of his periodic public diplomacy reading list. Bruce’s List is a compilation of books, journal articles, papers, and blogs on a wide variety of topics within the field of public diplomacy, and features a number of CPD scholars. Some highlights in this edition include: 

Corneliu Bjola and Marcus Holmes, eds. Digital Diplomacy: Theory and Practice, (Routlege, 2015). Bjola (Oxford University) and Holmes (College of William & Mary) have compiled a timely and useful compendium of essays by scholars and practitioners on a cutting edge topic, which they broadly define as “the use of social media for diplomatic purposes.” Their goal is “to theorize what digital diplomacy is, assess its relationship to traditional forms of diplomacy, examine the latent power dynamics inherent to digital diplomacy, and uncover the conditions under which digital diplomacy informs, regulates, or constrains foreign policy.” 

Daryl Copeland, Science and Diplomacy After Canada’s Lost Decade: Counting the Costs, Looking Beyond, Policy Paper, Canadian Global Affairs Institute, November 2015. In this report, Copeland (former Canadian diplomat and author of Guerilla Diplomacy) reflects on the importance of science and diplomacy in seeking solutions to climate change and other global challenges. He examines policy and governance deficiencies that have damaged Canada’s influence and international reputation and concludes with recommendations for Canada’s new government and diplomacy practitioners. 

William McCants, The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State, (St. Martin’s Press, 2015). McCants provides an informed account of the Islamic State’s rise, strategy, and the religious ideas of its leaders. He concludes with a discussion of difficulties in developing a counter-strategy. McCants is confident ISIS’s government in Syria and Iraq eventually “will crumble.” He is also confident, however, that political conditions in the Arab world will lead to “Islamic State copycats” with apocalyptic narratives.

Tara Ornstein, Public Diplomacy in Global Health: An Annotated Bibliography, CPD Perspectives, USC Center on Public Diplomacy, December 2015. In a brief introductory essay, Ornstein (University of Southern California) discusses the role of public diplomacy in global health, the work of key actors in the field, and a brief case study on successful public diplomacy initiatives in Tuberculosis (TB) control. Her bibliography contains annotations on nearly forty resources on diplomacy in global health and public diplomacy as a field of study and practice.

To view the list in full, click here.