The Lois Roth Foundation and the Public Diplomacy Council of America (PDCA) are pleased to announce the winners of the 2025 inaugural edition of the Richard T. Arndt Prize for an Outstanding Work on Cultural Diplomacy.
As you know, the jury received a large and wide-ranging group of worthy submissions. While some works surveyed the history of cultural diplomacy or considered the theoretical and practical underpinnings of cultural exchange in a changing world, others presented detailed case studies of efforts to create bridges between peoples and nations on the part of governments, non-governmental organizations, and individuals. We were heartened by the interest of so many distinguished experts in the field of cultural diplomacy, but it was extremely difficult to choose among such different and substantive works. Of the six short-listed works for the prize, the jury ultimately selected two co-winners and an honorable mention. Our congratulations to their authors!
WINNERS
Dr. Nicholas Cull (USC), for Reputational Security: Refocusing Public Diplomacy for a Dangerous World (2024, Polity Press). A theoretical rethinking of the relationship between realpolitik and “soft power” for the 21st century, supported by a convincing array of historical and current examples. This book argues that, particularly in the context of today’s radically different media and communications environment, national reputation is fundamental to national wellbeing and security. Chapter Seven explores the specific roles played by cultural diplomacy in relation to national reputation, situating these in a sophisticated and useful context and providing examples of a range of successful cultural diplomacy efforts.
Dr. Pete Millwood (Univ. of Melbourne), for Improbable Diplomats: How Ping-Pong Players, Musicians, and Scientists Remade U.S.-China Relations (2023, Cambridge Univ. Press). This readable, well-documented academic contribution to work on Sino-American relations in the 1970s investigates how cultural diplomacy remade international affairs. Methodologically innovative, it fleshes out the role and status of NGOs, situated between governments and individuals, and makes use of new archival materials and original oral history interviews. The result is a well-rounded transnational history that examines linguistic and cultural points of view, as well as the agency of Chinese individuals and organizations of the time.
HONORABLE MENTION
Dr. Elisabeth Piller (Univ. Freiburg), for Selling Weimar: German Public Diplomacy and the United States, 1918-1933 (2021, Franz Steiner Verlag). While much attention has been paid to Cold War US cultural diplomacy efforts toward Germany, very little has focused on Germany’s use of public diplomacy to shape US views in any period. This book notes that, for the Weimar Republic democracy, “the need for systematic public diplomacy was among the central lessons” of WWI, and the country accordingly redesigned and prioritized its cultural outreach, especially toward the U.S. This innovative history of Germany’s interwar “American project” goes beyond economic accounts to explain the puzzlingly rapid reversal in US relations with Germany post-WWI and reveals the roots of German self-representations to this day.
The Dick Arndt Prize honors works that are written for an educated lay audience. We strongly recommend these books to all readers who are interested in better understanding international history and the continuing promise represented by cultural and public diplomacy. They remind us that diplomacy remains our only pathway to maintaining constructive relations with other countries and joining together to work on the grave problems we face around the globe.
In this spirit, please consider making a donation today, to help support the Dick Arndt Prize and other Roth Foundation programs and foster cross-cultural dialogue and cooperation.
Wishing you Happy Holidays,
