Propaganda, Public Diplomacy & Idea Invasion: The Story of USIA's Worldnet

Established in 1953 as the nation's public relations agency, the United States Information Agency was sanctioned for nation branding, creating and modulating America's reputation, and spreading the good news about America to overseas audiences. Always operating under an expanding mosaic of terminologies and in the center of semantic debates, USIA benefitted from public diplomacy's tremendous growth during President Reagan's historic mission of fighting communism. While many agencies experienced budgetary cuts, the USIA budget increased more than 80 percent, and some of those funds were used to finance Worldnet. Created by USIA Director Charles Z. Wick and staff, Worldnet was the Agency's attempt to use satellite television as an instrument of public diplomacy. Filled with compelling stories from insiders, this book lifts the veil on and provides a historically grounded introduction to Worldnet, the "jewel of the crown" of the Reagan administration's enchantment with aggressive political propaganda techniques.