Nathaniel Greenberg, "The Long War of Ideas: American Public Diplomacy in Arabic After 9/11" (Columbia UP, 2026)

About this episode

Dr. Nathaniel Greenberg discusses American public diplomacy in Arabic after 9/11 and its impact on Arab public opinion.

In the wake of the September 11 attacks, US officials identified the so-called battle for hearts and minds as the “second front” in the war on terror. A wave of funding flowed into public diplomacy in the Middle East, seeking to change views of the United States through Arabic-language communications—often while hiding the traces of American origins. To what extent did this vast propaganda apparatus sway Arab public opinion? Which ideas and actors shaped American public diplomacy in this period? What are the lessons for information strategy today? The Long War of Ideas: American Public Diplomacy in Arabic After 9/11 (Columbia University Press, 2026) by Dr. Nathaniel Greenberg tells the story of American propaganda campaigns in the Middle East after 9/11, drawing on in-depth interviews with key players and previously classified documents. Dr. Greenberg shows how the United States tried to control perceptions of its response to 9/11 through news and entertainment, and reveals that Arab governments and unofficial actors were involved—knowingly or not—in distributing US propaganda. He explores the institutions, strategy, and rhetoric deployed in the war on terror, placing them in the…

People in this episode

Host: Marshall Poe

Guest: Nathaniel Greenberg

Topics covered

• public diplomacy
• propaganda
• Middle East
• American foreign policy
• information warfare
• Arab public opinion
• 9/11

Keywords

• public diplomacy
• propaganda campaigns
• Arab public opinion
• 9/11
• information strategy
• US government
• media operations
• Cold War

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Columbia University Press, US government, Russian state media, Chinese state media

Places: Middle East, United States, Arab, Cold War

More episodes of New Books in Communications

• Patrick Brodie, "Wild Tides: Media Infrastructure and Financial Crisis in Ireland" (Duke UP, 2026) · June 13, 2026 · 1h 15m
• Can I Say That: Your Go-To Guide for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion · June 11, 2026 · 39 min
• Aditya Deshbandhu, "The 21st Century in 100 Games" (Routledge, 2024) · June 9, 2026 · 1h 1m
• Allyson Nadia Field, "Acts of Love: Black Performance and the Kiss That Changed Film History" (U California Press, 2026) · June 6, 2026 · 49 min
• Weipin Tsai, "The Making of China's Post Office: Sovereignty, Modernization, and the Connection of a Nation" (Harvard UP, 2024) · June 3, 2026 · 58 min
• Rahul Mukherjee, "Unlimited: Aspirational Politics and Mobile Media Distribution" (MIT Press, 2026) · June 2, 2026 · 1h 1m