Empire of Pictures

Book excerpt: "In Cold War historiography, the 1960s are often described as a decade of mounting diplomatic tensions and international social unrest. At the same time, they were a period of global media revolution: communication satellites compressed time and space, television spread around the world, and images circulated through print media in expanding ways. Examining how U.S. policymakers exploited these changes, this book offers groundbreaking international research which shows that U.S. power came to depend more and more not on military superiority or economic strength alone, but also on America's ability to create appealing pictures that assured recognition of its global leadership"--Provided by publisher.