Latest Must-Reads in Public Diplomacy: May 2025

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. Highlights from the latest list include publications on topics spanning public diplomacy evaluation, AI and diplomacy, and insights from the Korean Association of Public Diplomacy.  

Ameila Arsenault, “The Measurement Dilemma in Public Diplomacy,” 348-359, in Sean Aday, ed., Handbook on Public Diplomacy, (Edward Elgar, 2025). Arsenault (US Department of State) brings the skills of a leading scholar and experienced practitioner to this examination of the endlessly challenging issues of performance “monitoring” and outcomes “evaluation” in diplomacy’s public dimension. After an opening discussion of how terms are defined and operationalized, she explores three broad themes. (1) The evolution of public diplomacy monitoring and evaluation. (2) Complex challenges in implementing a culture of measurement and evaluation: alignment on objectives; agreement on levels of analysis; understanding audiences; time, money, and staff problems; and whether and how monitoring and evaluation are operationalized in a particular organizational setting. (3) Ways to ameliorate challenges and incorporate monitoring, evaluation, and learning into public diplomacy theory and practice. Arsenault’s chapter is a US government focused case study, but it is broadly relevant to issues facing governments and foreign ministries worldwide. It is destined to be a landmark assessment of public diplomacy’s “measurement dilemma.”  

Muneera Bano, Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, and Didar Zowghi, “Mapping the Scholarly Landscape on AI and Diplomacy,”  The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, (2025), 1-36, published online, March 14, 2025. Bano (CSIRO, Australia’s National Science Agency), Chaudhri (High Commission for Pakistan, Australia), and Zowghi (CSIRO) examine challenges and opportunities in the uses of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI) tools in diplomatic practice. Based on a literature review of 231 articles in Google Scholar and Scopus, they discuss how scholars have analyzed integration of digital technologies and AI in key thematic areas: bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, digital diplomacy, social media’s role in diplomacy, public diplomacy, health diplomacy, AI’s role in foreign policy and negotiation, cultural diplomacy, security diplomacy, economic diplomacy, and environmental diplomacy. Challenges include ethical concerns, uneven adoption of technologies across countries and regions, cybersecurity risks, and AI’s impact on geopolitical conflict. Opportunities include AI’s role in enhancing international cooperation, diplomatic training, and anticipation of political crises and humanitarian disasters. The authors identify a significant gap in articles specifically focused on “ChatGPT” and “GenAI” in diplomacy, which they attributed to their novelty. Overall, their article is a significant contribution to research in this trending domain in diplomacy studies.

Journal of Public Diplomacy, Vol. 5, No. 1, Spring-Summer 2025. Co-edited by Kyung Sun Lee, Zayed University, United Arab Emirates, and Zhao Alexandre Huang, Université Gustave Eiffel, France, JPD was established by the Korean Association of Public Diplomacy in 2021. Its goals are to publish peer-reviewed open access articles on the theory and practice of public diplomacy and serve as venue for dialogue among scholars and practitioners. 

Clay Risen, Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America, (Simon & Schuster, 2025). New York Times reporter and historian Risen takes care to say today’s MAGA movement is not identical to McCarthyism. However, a throughline to the Red Scare of the 1940s and 50s is essential to understanding the current moment. He leaves it to readers to find their own parallels. Risen’s deeply researched narrative, much based on new sources, is told through vivid stories of famous and little-known individuals – those who wielded conspiracy theories and hard right political agendas and the many affected by them in all walks of American life. 

Yuanchun Yang, “City Branding Through Tourist Eyes: How YouTube Shapes Chongqing’s Global Image,”  May 8, 2025, CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy.

Lamia Zia and Andrew Rolander, “Why Diplomacy Demands More Than Intelligence,”  May 8, 2025, CPD Blog, USC Center on Public Diplomacy.

Bruce Gregory, American Diplomacy’s Public Dimension: Practitioners as Change Agents in Foreign Relations, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024).  eBook text and paperback here; Kindle and paperback here.