Theorizing Mediated Public Diplomacy: The U.S. Case

Abstract

The field of public diplomacy has lacked theoretical frameworks to guide research and practice. This article is an attempt to supply a potentially useful theoretical model. The cascading network activation model, developed to explain the spread and dominance of different framings of U.S. foreign policy in the American media, is extended here to the international communication process. The article focuses on how to theorize about the success and failure of efforts by the U.S. government to promote favorable framing of its policies in foreign news media.The success of these efforts, termed “mediated U.S. public diplomacy,” depends most importantly on political cultural congruency between the United States and the targeted nation, as well as on the strategy, power, and motivations of foreign elites to promote positive news of the United States in their own media. The article explores the difficulties faced and the (less numerous) opportunities enjoyed by the U.S. President and administration to attain their objectives. The model proposed is generalizable to other countries' efforts to engage in mediated public diplomacy as well.