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U.S. Public Diplomacy Toward Iran: Structures, Actors, and Policy Communities

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U.S. Public Diplomacy Toward Iran: Structures, Actors, and Policy Communities U.S. PUBLIC DIPLOMACY TOWARD IRAN: STRUCTURES, ACTORS, AND POLICY COMMUNITIES A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Manship School of Mass Communication by Foad Izadi B.S., University of Houston, 1992 M.A., University of Houston, 2005 May 2009 ©Copyright 2009 Foad Izadi All rights reserved ii for Baqiyatallah Al-Azam iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “All praise is due to God, who guided us to this; for we would not have found the way had God not guided us” (The Holy Quran, 7:43). Words cannot express my gratitude to the many people who have made this dissertation and my studies at the Manship School of Mass Communication possible. First, my sincere thanks goes to my dissertation committee co-chairs Drs. Richard Alan Nelson and Kevin Mulcahy for the continued guidance they provided me during the course of this dissertation. I would also like to thank the other members of my dissertation committee Drs. Kirby Goidel, Emily Erickson, and David Lindenfeld for their valuable comments. I have benefited from the feedback I received from several people I consulted about this research, including Dr. Hamid Mowlana, Jim Lobe, Dr. Gareth Porter, Phyllis Bennis, Drs. Eileen Meehan, Mark Gasiorowski, Stephen Zunes, David Culbert, and Michael Xenos. My appreciation goes to them for their interest in this research. I wish to offer my gratitude to all those in the Manship School who supported my studies, especially Dean Jack Hamilton and Dr. Margaret DeFleur. I would also like to thank the staff at the Manship School, specifically Michael Bosworth, Elizabeth Cadarette, Angela Fleming, Lyn LeJeune, Adrienne Moore, Renee Pierce, and Linda Rewerts. I wish to offer my heartfelt thanks to my dear wife Hakimeh Saghaye-Biria for her enduring support and encouragement. A special thank you goes to my two daughters, Mahdiah and Masumah, for their patience and for brightening up our days when things got difficult. My deepest appreciation also goes to all in our families who have been truly supportive of my studies, especially my parents Ezzatollah Izadi and Akram Ghaffari and my wife’s parents Dr. Mohammad Nasser Saghaye-Biria and Fatemeh Kamali. iv “O God, bring me out of the darkness of illusions and honor me with the light of comprehension. O God, open to us the doors of your mercy and shower us with the treasures of your knowledge, O the Most Merciful” (Mafatihul Jinan). v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES.......................................................................................................................viii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS......................................................................................................... x ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................................. xii 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER OUTLINE.................................................................................................................... 10 2. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE .......................................................................................... 12 PROPAGANDA............................................................................................................................ 12 PUBLIC DIPLOMACY.................................................................................................................. 25 HISTORY OF PUBLIC DIPLOMACY.............................................................................................. 39 U.S. Public Diplomacy from World War I to 9-11 ............................................................. 39 United States’ Post-9/11 Public Diplomacy........................................................................ 46 3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK............................................................................................ 52 THE NEW PUBLIC DIPLOMACY DEBATE.................................................................................... 53 TWO-WAY SYMMETRICAL PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ....................................................................... 56 THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF DIALOGUE AND SYMMETRY............................................... 62 4. METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................... 68 SOURCES OF INFORMATION ....................................................................................................... 70 LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE STUDIES ........................................................... 74 5. THE DEBATE OVER UNITED STATES IRAN POLICY .................................................... 77 THE IRAN ISSUE NETWORK ....................................................................................................... 77 POLICY COMMUNITIES AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................ 77 Strategic Engagement.......................................................................................................... 79 Punitive Nonengagement .................................................................................................... 89 Hawkish Engagement.......................................................................................................... 99 Fundamental Change in U.S. Foreign Policy.................................................................... 112 POLICY COMMUNITIES AND THE QUESTION OF SYMMETRY .................................................... 120 6. STRUCTURE OF U.S. PUBLIC DIPLOMACY TOWARD IRAN...................................... 124 SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE’S FEBRUARY 2006 INITIATIVE............................ 126 Office of Iranian Affairs.................................................................................................... 133 Shadow Embassies ............................................................................................................ 139 Congressional Response to Secretary Rice’s 2006 Initiative............................................ 142 The Reaction of Iranian Opposition Groups ..................................................................... 146 NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY ............................................................................ 149 vi NED’s Work in Iran and Non-State Actors ...................................................................... 152 FREEDOM HOUSE .................................................................................................................... 153 U.S. INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING.................................................................................... 156 Broadcasting Board of Governors..................................................................................... 156 Post 9/11 Media Initiatives – Operation Middle East ....................................................... 159 Voice of America Persian News Network ........................................................................ 165 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty ..................................................................................... 168 Radio Farda ....................................................................................................................... 169 VOA Persian TV and Radio Farda’s Internet Face........................................................... 177 Azeri Language Broadcasting ........................................................................................... 177 CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................... 179 7. CONCLUSION: U.S. PUBLIC DIPLOMACY TOWARD IRAN AND THE TWO-WAY SYMMETRICAL MODEL ........................................................................................................ 182 THE MYTH OF THE YEARNING MASSES................................................................................... 183 HAS IRAN-FOCUSED U.S. PUBLIC DIPLOMACY BEEN SYMMETRICAL? ................................... 189 HAS IRAN-FOCUSED PUBLIC DIPLOMACY EMPLOYED TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION? ............ 190 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 197 APPENDIX A. A BRIEF CHRONOLOGY OF U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS .............................. 237 APPENDIX B. LIST OF DATABASES.................................................................................... 240 APPENDIX C. NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY IRAN-RELATED PROJECTS GRANTS ................................................................................................................ 242 VITA........................................................................................................................................... 245 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Strategic Engagement policy community ………………….……………......…………84 Table 2. Punitive Nonengagement policy community …………….………...………...………...96 Table 3. Hawkish Engagement policy community ………...………………...………………...104 Table 4. Fundamental
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