Front Line Public Diplomacy

This book presents the first-ever close and up-to-date look at how American diplomats working at our embassies abroad communicate with foreign audiences to explain US foreign policy and American culture and society. Projecting an American voice abroad has become more difficult in the twenty-first century, as terrorists and others hostile to America use modern communication means to criticize us, and as new communication tools have greatly expanded the worldwide discussion of issues important to us, so that terrorists and others hostile to us have added negative voices to the global dialogue.

It analyzes the communication tools our public diplomacy professionals use, and how they employ interpersonal and language skills to engage our critics. It shows how they overcome obstacles erected by unfriendly governments, and explains that diplomats do not simply to reiterate set policy formulations but engage a variety of people from different cultures in a creative ways to increase their understanding of America.

Review: Ambassador William Rugh, one of the most distinguished American practitioners of the art of public diplomacy, has written a remarkable book. From basic principles through to the subtleties of today's social media this is the essential guide for any public diplomat headed for the field or for any analyst who wishes to understand how this essential element of international relations is practiced.

This book will be required reading in diplomatic training classes in the US and one anticipates further afield also. Nicholas J. Cull, Professor of Public Diplomacy, University of Southern California, USA Ambassador Rugh presents a comprehensive, current and insightful overview of US public diplomacy field operations, filling a long-vacant niche in real-world PD resources for professors and students.

His deep background as a distinguished practitioner of PD makes for a nuanced, yet focused, presentation of the opportunities and challenges facing PD professionals past and present. - Elizabeth Whitaker, Georgetown University and George Washington University Adjunct Professor of Public Diplomacy, USA, and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and senior Public Diplomacy Officer