Broadcasting Empire

At first a tool to boost troop morale, the Armed Forces Network (AFN) evolved into a worldwide communications system that blended entertainment with spreading American culture and helping troops understand their missions.

Stacy Takacs traces the AFN’s role in the worldwide expansion of American-style broadcasting and illuminates its impact on how foreign audiences viewed the United States. The AFN’s transformation emerged from collaborations between military leaders, foreign governments, commercial media companies, and local communities and turned the sprawling archipelago of US military bases into a potent instrument of soft power. Yet at times shifting alliances, practical problems, and the everyday routines of military life led to problems that complicated its mission

Knowledgeable and multidimensional, Broadcasting Empire combines big-picture analysis with case studies and oral history to reveal an important but overlooked tool of American influence.