Through a Screen Darkly: Popular Culture, Public Diplomacy, and America's Image Abroad

Why it is a mistake to let commercial entertainment serve as America's de facto ambassador to the world What does the world admire most about America? Science, technology, higher education, consumer goods—but not, it seems, freedom and democracy. Indeed, these ideals are in global retreat, for reasons ranging from ill-conceived foreign policy to the financial crisis and the sophisticated propaganda of modern authoritarians. Another reason, explored for the first time in this pathbreaking bo...