Overview

This volume documents the public diplomacy efforts of the Jimmy Carter administration. A major emphasis of the volume is the role the United States Information Agency (later the United States International Communication Agency) played in the formulation and implementation of public diplomacy. The volume documents the merger of the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (CU) and USIA in late 1977 and the establishment of ICA in early 1978 and illustrates the varied efforts of USIA/ICA to conceptualize and administer a vast array of cultural initiatives and programming, including film and television programs, exhibits, and international conferences. Of note is the high-level documentation of USIA/ICA Director John Reinhardt, a former Ambassador who served in both USIA and the Department of State, and his efforts to engage with the USIA/ICA community during a time of transition. It also focuses on the Department of State’s public diplomacy efforts, notably people-to-people, cultural, and educational exchanges. The volume also chronicles Carter’s efforts, and those of his senior advisers, to manage the organizational and intellectual challenges posed by the CU–USIA merger and establishment of ICA and devise initiatives in support of the administration’s foreign policy.