World Opinion and the Emerging International Order (Praeger Series in Political Communication) - Hardcover

"Frank Rusciano's masterful book addresses a compelling issue of our time--the emergence of 'world opinion' as a political and moral influence on the actions of nations and peoples. Rich in detail and nuanced in argument, World Opinion and the Emerging International Order is the best book yet on the impact of the global flow of information on people's perceptions, beliefs, and values."-Thomas E. Patterson Bradlee Professor of Government & the Press Harvard University "It is unusual for someone to use this kind of rigorous technique to make any explicit connections with policy, but Frank Rusciano has intriguingly linked his measures to the Dayton accords, U.N. decisions, and even the measures of the 'market' for world opinion....the book offers a political worldview that challenges the belief that regional and cultural differences define world order...Rusciano et. al indicate that public policy issues are, in fact, more global in nature, and that different configurations of nation-states and regions and culture shape national positions, depending on the specific issues at stake. I believe Rusciano's 'global opinion process' model could become part of a fascinating debate. It is uncommonly lucid, and deserves the widest possible audience."-James Nathan Khaled Bin Sultan Eminent Scholar Auburn University Executive Director, Alabama World Affairs Council "This book is certainly the most substantial treatment of the idea of 'world opinion' yet to appear. As well as being both thoughtful and systematic, it links together work in communications and political science, and is always careful to relate its empirical findings to contemporary theoretical and philosophical debates. It is very valuable."-Christopher Hill Professor of International Relations London School of Economics and Political Science

This is the first systematic book-length examination of the meaning and influence of world opinion. Using media content analyses, survey data, documentary evidence, and comparative theory, it analyzes how world opinion influences the construction of national identity, the growth of global markets, and the emergence of an imagined international community to rival the influence of the nation-state. Using newspaper content analyses, survey research data, documentary evidence, and comparative theory, this book examines the meaning, influence, and structure of world opinion in the emerging international order. It begins by analyzing the construction of individual identity in the presence of the Other and then describes the influence of opinion processes upon this construction at all levels, including familial, religious, national, and ethnic. Subsequent chapters deal with the effects of a global public on the construction of individual identity and the role of world opinion in this process; the definition of world opinion and its component parts; the effects of world opinion on nations' behavior in times of crisis; the role world opinion plays in the construction of national identity and the manner in which this prompts a resurgence of nationalism in the post-Cold War era; the relationship between world opinion and the global market; the search for an attentive public to link elites and mass publics in world opinion; and the appearance of an imagined international community in the post-Cold War era based around the concept of world opinion. The final chapter discusses the effects of world opinion on our vision of history and evaluates the significance of the nation-state in an international environment increasingly governed by global forces and world public opinion. A major study for researchers, scholars, and students involved with international relations, public opinion, and international communications.