Pope John Paul II was clearly one of the most influential persons of the 20th Century. He affected the world of politics, religion, and culture with a rhetorical zeal unmatched by few actors on the international stage. From the downfall of communism in Eastern Europe to his devotion to Mary to his championing of social justice and orthodox theology, this book examines his several moments of persuasive finesse as well as instances when his message could have been crafted more effectively. The essays in this collection examine his persuasive skills from several scholarly points of view. The book also offers analyses of media portrayals of this often-controversial figure. With contributions from some of the world's leading communication scholars, clergy, and social activists, this book is must reading for anyone interested in a deeper understanding of religious communication in general and John Paul II's rhetorical papacy in particular. Written by Catholics, Protestants, Mormons, agnostics, and atheists, the chapters approach the Pope with varying degrees of admiration, but always with intellectual respect.

Contends that John Paul II's overseas pastoral visits are a rhetorical response to a church and society deeply affected by secularization and pluralism, and constitutes a new way of speaking about the sacred.

From the downfall of communism in Eastern Europe to his devotion to Mary to his championing of social justice and orthodox theology, this book examines Pope John Paul II's several moments of persuasive finesse as well as instances when his message could have been crafted more effectively. Written by Catholics, Protestants, Mormons, agnostics, and atheists, the chapters approach the Pope with varying degrees of admiration, but always with intellectual respect.

The Rhetoric of Soft Power: Public Diplomacy in Global Contexts provides a comparative assessment of public diplomacy and strategic communication initiatives in order to portray how Joseph Nye's notion of "soft power" has translated into context-specific strategies of international influence. The book examines four cases--Japan, Venezuela, China, and the United States--to illuminate the particular significance of culture, foreign publics, and communication technologies for the foreign policy ambitions of each country. This study explores the notion of soft power as a set of theoretical arguments about power, and as a reflection of how nation-states perceive what is an increasingly necessary perspective on international relations in an age of ubiquitous global communication flows and encroaching networks of non-state actors. Through an analysis of policy discourse, public diplomacy initiatives, and related programs of strategic influence, soft power in each case represents a localized set of assumptions about the requirements of persuasion, the relevance of foreign audiences to state goals, and the perception of what counts as a soft power resource. This timely analysis provides an unprecedented comparative investigation of the relationship between soft power and public diplomacy.