“A Battle for Hearts and Minds”: U.S. Public Diplomacy in the Cold War Middle East

This paper analyzes the development of American public diplomacy in the Middle East region from 1945-1961. The purpose of the paper is to situate the public diplomacy effort within existing histories of the Middle East and Cold War propaganda and to analyze the methods used by the U. S. to shape foreign opinion. Analysis reveals that the U.S. felt the need to implement a foreign information program under President Truman, which was later expanded and corrected under Eisenhower, and included a switch from short-term objective seeking to long-term goodwill fostering. The methods were primarily focused on two target audiences: educated community leaders on one hand, and the masses on the other. This research highlights the successes of the previous U.S. public diplomacy program which was later revived post-9/11, but has struggled to reduce anti-Americanism