July 13 Monday Forum: The First Target Audiences
About this Event
How did a fragile coalition of thirteen colonies win the hearts, minds--and wallets--of European superpowers? Long before the term "public diplomacy" was coined, America's Founding Fathers were master practitioners of the art. Confronted with a global superpower, they recognized that winning independence required more than battlefield victories: It demanded a sophisticated campaign to shape public opinion and secure foreign alliances abroad.
Join Martha Bayles, author of Popular Culture, Public Diplomacy, and America's Image Abroad (2014); Caitlin Schindler, author of The Origins of Public Diplomacy in US Statecraft: Uncovering a Forgotten Tradition (2018); and Eric Weiner, author of Ben & Me (2024) for an insightful panel discussion examining the innovative methods used by leaders such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams. From Franklin's calculated celebrity in the salons of Paris to the strategic international distribution of the Declaration of Independence, our panelists will explore how early American leaders leveraged their values-based public discourse to secure crucial foreign support--and how these foundational strategies continue to influence American statecraft today.
Join us at noon on July 13 at George Washington University and on-line via Zoom.The event will take place at GWU's Lindner Family Commons at the Elliott School (1957 E Street, NW, Room 602, Washington, D.C. 20052). For those who RSVP and arrive before 11:40 a.m., a light lunch will be provided. The event is co-sponsored by the GWU Elliott School of International Affairs, the GW Institute for Public Diplomacy & Global Communication, and the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy.
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