The Role Of Hollywood Movies In U.S. Public Diplomacy In The Soviet Union During President Eisenhower’s Administration

Public diplomacy has become a significant part of a country’s foreign relations.The United States has accumulated rich theories and practices in this area.Its public diplomacy covers wide ranges,including motion pictures.As a medium which can influence people’s opinions and behaviors,motion pictures can be an effective means to conduct public diplomacy.Hollywood,a representative of American film industry,has kept a good relationship with Washington for a long time and served as the “concept ambassador” for America in the world,advancing its public diplomacy.In view of the first U.S.-Soviet cultural agreement signed during President Eisenhower’s administration which broke the long impasse on U.S.-Soviet film exchanges,the thesis focuses on this period to study how Hollywood advanced American public diplomacy in the Soviet Union.Two films—Roman Holiday(1953)and The Old Man and the Sea(1958)—are selected to further analyze it.The methods applied in thesis include historical analysis and case study.The thesis concludes that Hollywood films have a positive role in American public diplomacy and this can be a good lesson for China to carry out public diplomacy.