American Idol After Iraq

Nathan Gardels is the editor of National Perspectives Quarterly. He has written widely for many publications, both nationally and internationally, including The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Guardian, Corriere della Sera, El Pais, Le Figaro, and the New York Review of Books. Mike Medavoy is the chairman and co-founder of Phoenix Pictures. Throughout his career he has been involved in the creation of countless films, including sixteen nominated for Best Picture Academy Awards, and seven winners.

• List of Plates viForeword by Joseph S. Nye Jr. vii1 Hearts, Minds, and Hollywood 12 The Magic is Gone – Except at the Box Office 93 Creativity into Cash: How Hollywood Works 264 Seeing and Being Seen 345 Hollywood Beats the Red Army: The Height of America’s Cultural Appeal 516 Backlash: Soft Power is Still Power, and Still Makes Enemies 607 Culture Wars in the West: The Pope vs. Madonna 718 Media Storm Troopers of the West vs. Islam 839 New Stories, New Audiences in the Global Age 9810 Reinventing Cultural Diplomacy 124Six Key Concepts of This Book 145About the Authors 149Acknowledgments 155Index 159

"The authors draw on their extensive experience and contacts within the political and entertainment arenas to present an interesting analysis of the role of media, and especially Hollywood film, in support of US foreign policy objectives." (CHOICE, January 2010)"Gardels and Medavoy, two of California's most creative public intellectuals, bring a West Coast perspective to the role of culture in foreign policy. Gardels and Medavoy offer interesting observations on these trends." (Foreign Affairs Magazine, Sep/Oct 2009)"The book ends with a powerful challenge to Hollywood to accept its responsibility as a major player in the struggle to restore America's moral influence in the world." (Huffington Post, June 2009)"American Idol After Iraq will inspire debates the country needs to have regarding the power of pop culture." (Pajamas Media, June 2009)"Short and a delight to read, focusing, not surprisingly, on the power of the West Coast to project American 'soft-power' almost everywhere through the pervasive and alluring imagery of mass entertainment." (Providence Journal, June 2009)"It is comparatively short and a delight to read, focusing, not surprisingly, on the power of the West Coast to project American 'soft power' almost everywhere through the pervasive and alluring imagery of mass entertainment." (Japan Times Online, May 2009)"The tone of the book is pitch perfect—combining a passionate appeal for soft power with a rigorous analysis of what it will take to restore America's influence in the world." (Huffington Post, May 2009)"Gardel's and Medavoy's readable and yet comprehensive book explores the need to understand the effective use of power in an increasingly globalized world; the understanding of which has never been more pressing or pertinent, following, as it has, the increasingly negative perceptions of America’s policies abroad." (Editorial On The Environmentalist, April 2009)"This fascinating work, rich in dates and anecdotes, opens our eyes to the impact the Hollywood audiovisual phenomenon has had and still has, as well as analyzing the image of America and the role its cinema must play. Both entertaining and informative, as well as brave, Nathan Gardels and Mike Medavoy's book defines challenges and obstacles in order to overcome them, as well as providing solutions." [Translated from Spanish.] (Critica Libro, April 2009)"Gardels and Medavoy's text succeeds in challenging the philosophical assumptions of public diplomacy while remaining accessible and practical." (Public Diplomacy Magazine, Winter 2009)