Communication and culture dimension of U.S. foreign policy

U.S. foreign policy has a multi-layered structure in terms of both its ideological and theoretical background and the transformations it has undergone throughout history. However, what is at least as interesting as this structure are the communication and cultural strategies used for the purpose of the construction, implementation, and representation of U.S. foreign policy and the promotion of U.S. values to the international community. This thesis is structured around the proposition that U.S. foreign policy is not limited to military and economic strategies, but that communication and culture-based strategies also play a powerful role in U.S. foreign policy. Concepts such as soft power, public diplomacy, and cultural diplomacy are central to the discussions contained in this thesis. The thesis examines topics such as the construction of the US's international identity, how it is perceived by societies in different regions, its efforts to gain legitimacy for its policies, the representation of its values, and cultural hegemony as the objectives of these strategies. Throughout the study, the transformations of these strategies over time, which foreign policy approaches they are compatible with, which cultural areas are instrumentalized, and the size of the space they occupy in the foreign policy as a whole compared to hard power are questioned. The findings indicate that there are notable changes between historical periods; that these changes are consistent with the ideological approaches followed in the relevant period; that soft power strategies have strengthened in the post-Cold War period and that Hollywood cinema, TV series, education, scholarship and exchange programs, humanitarian aid, development funds, science and art-centered studies are instrumentalized in the context of cultural diplomacy. In addition, the relationship between foreign policy and the media was examined, and the balance between propaganda and oversight was questioned. The methods used to implement these two media functions were discussed. Findings indicated that the media serves both governments' pursuit of public consent and legitimacy, and society's demand for control and pressure on policymakers, and that this dual function is linked to various dynamics. The literature review method was followed and various cases and films were examined in the study.