Bøker i Explorations in Culture and International History-serien

A recent coinage within international relations, "nation branding" designates the process of highlighting a country's positive characteristics for promotional purposes, using techniques similar to those employed in marketing and public relations. Nation Branding in Modern History takes an innovative approach to illuminating this contested concept.

Introduces academics, students and political analysts to some of the trends in the study and state of culture and international history: NGOs, internationalism, cultural violence, the "Romance of Resistance," and the culture of diplomacy.

Public diplomacy, neglected following the end of the Cold War, is once again a central tool of American foreign policy. This book, examining as it does the Marshall Plan as the form of public diplomacy of the United States in France after World War Two, offers a timely historical case study. Current debates about globalization and a possible revival of the Marshall Plan resemble the debates about Americanization that occurred in France over fifty years ago. Relations between France and the United States are often tense despite their shared history and cultural ties, reflecting the general fear and disgust and attraction of America and Americanization. The period covered in this book offers a good example: the French Government begrudgingly accepted American hegemony even though anti-Americanism was widespread among the French population, which American public diplomacy tried to overcome with various cultural and economic activities examined by the author. In many cases French society proved resistant to Americanization, and it is questionable whether public diplomacy actually accomplished what its advocates had promised. Nevertheless, by the 1950s the United States had established a strong cultural presence in France that included Hollywood, Reader's Digest, and American-style hotels.

Whether rising up from fiery leaders such as Venezuela''s Hugo Chavez and Cuba''s Fidel Castro or from angry masses of Brazilian workers and Mexican peasants, anti U.S. sentiment in Latin America and the Caribbean today is arguably stronger than ever. It is also a threat to U.S. leadership in the hemisphere and the world. Where has this resentment come from? Has it arisen naturally from imperialism and globalization, from economic and social frustrations? Has it served opportunistic politicians? Does Latin America have its own style of anti Americanism? What about national variations? How does cultural anti Americanism affect politics, and vice versa? What roles have religion, literature, or cartoons played in whipping up sentiment against ''el yanqui''? Finally, how has the United States reacted to all this? This book brings leaders in the field of U.S. Latin American relations together with the most promising young scholars to shed historical light on the present implications of hostility to the United States in Latin America and the Caribbean. In essays that carry the reader from Revolutionary Mexico to Peronist Argentina, from Panama in the nineteenth century to the West Indies'' mid century independence movement, and from Colombian drug runners to liberation theologists, the authors unearth little known campaigns of resistance and probe deeper into episodes we thought we knew well. They argue that, for well over a century, identifying the United States as the enemy has rung true to Latin Americans and has translated into compelling political strategies. Combining history with political and cultural analysis, this collection breaks the mold of traditional diplomatic history by seeing anti Americanism through the eyes of those who expressed it. It makes clear that anti Americanism, far from being a post 9/11 buzzword, is rather a real force that casts a long shadow over U.S. Latin American relations.

Recent studies on the meaning of cultural diplomacy in the 20th century often focus on the United States and the Cold War, based on the premise that cultural diplomacy was a key instrument of foreign policy in the nation's effort to contain the Soviet Union. As a result, the term cultural diplomacyA" has become one-dimensional...

Historians from Germany, Britain, the US, and Canada demonstrate the merger between international history and cultural studies in terms of both theory and methodology. They sample topics and sources from the early modern period to the present, and trace research trends and debates within Europe and

".an excellent collection.Like any good collection, the articles raise as many questions as they answer.[that] highlight the value of the collection for use in undergraduate courses on Latin American history, inter-American relations or U.S. foreign policy. Liberal use of appropriate political cartoons adds spice to the readings." · Hispanic American Historical Review"..a very interesting collection of nine original essays, plus an extensive introduction by the editor.[whose]concluding remarks leave room for future debates.. [It] could help undergraduate students in many disciplines, from international relations and American Studies to history and geopolitics.[It] must be seen as a fundamental addendum to any bibliography on the study of anti-Americanism." · The Latin Americanist"This volume addresses an important topic and does so very effectively. All of the essays take on a high level of quality. All the essays are well written and well researched. They also show a high level of methodological and conceptual sophistication. They effectively deal with uniformities and differences in manifestations of anti-Americanism from time to time and from place to place." · Mark Gilderhus, Texas Christian University".the collection succeeds in generating a number of stimulating explorations of anti-Americanism, providing an important starting point for further re-examination of a phenomenon that continues to grow in significance in the contemporary global environment." · Journal of Latin American StudiesWhether rising up from fiery leaders such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Cuba's Fidel Castro or from angry masses of Brazilian workers and Mexican peasants, anti U.S. sentiment in Latin America and the Caribbean today is arguably stronger than ever. It is also a threat to U.S. leadership in the hemisphere and the world. Where has this resentment come from? Has it arisen naturally from imperialism and globalization, from economic and social frustrations? Has it served opportunistic politicians? Does Latin America have its own style of anti Americanism? What about national variations? How does cultural anti Americanism affect politics, and vice versa? What roles have religion, literature, or cartoons played in whipping up sentiment against 'el yanqui'? Finally, how has the United States reacted to all this?This book brings leaders in the field of U.S. Latin American relations together with the most promising young scholars to shed historical light on the present implications of hostility to the United States in Latin America and the Caribbean. In essays that carry the reader from Revolutionary Mexico to Peronist Argentina, from Panama in the nineteenth century to the West Indies' mid century independence movement, and from Colombian drug runners to liberation theologists, the authors unearth little known campaigns of resistance and probe deeper into episodes we thought we knew well. They argue that, for well over a century, identifying the United States as the enemy has rung true to Latin Americans and has translated into compelling political strategies. Combining history with political and cultural analysis, this collection breaks the mold of traditional diplomatic history by seeing anti Americanism through the eyes of those who expressed it. It makes clear that anti Americanism, far from being a post 9/11 buzzword, is rather a real force that casts a long shadow over U.S. Latin American relations.Alan McPherson teaches history at Howard University in Washington, D.C. He is the author of Yankee No! Anti Americanism in U.S. Latin American Relations (2003). He is at work on a survey of U.S. Latin American relations since 1945 and on a study of Caribbean anti U.S. movements from 1912 to 1934.