United States Public Diplomacy and Digital Engagement: The Influence (and Misuse) of Habermas and McLuhan.

Two foundational concepts that have directly shaped the policy of digital engagement are Habermas's notion of the 'public sphere' and McLuhan's prophesy of an emerging 'global village.' In this paper, I argue that a misreading of these theorists, coupled with an awareness of the marketing and strategic antecedents of digital engagement, reveal that the primary goal of this approach is the legitimization American policies overseas. Moreover, a careful reading of what Habermas and McLuhan in fact say raises doubts as to the feasibility of the kind of world order envisioned by the Obama administration. Habermas, for example, would not recognize the possibility of constructing a consent-based transnational civil society, while McLuhan's vision of an internet-mediated future was, to say the least, pessimistic. By recognizing the complexities of their concepts, as well as the strategic underpinnings of digital engagement, this paper raises questions regarding the working assumptions informing this latest iteration of U.S. public diplomacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]