In today's global communication era, US public diplomacy needs to stop fighting unwinnable information battles and start building strategic communication bridges. R. S. Zaharna provides a probing analysis of how the interplay of politics, culture, identity and communication undermined US post 9/11 public diplomacy in the Arab and Islamic worlds and illustrates how the US can more effectively communicate with culturally diverse publics by using relationship-building and networking strategies. Battles to Bridges explains how the underlying communication and political dynamics have redefined what 'strategic communication' means in today's international arena. Using a rich, interdisciplinary approach, Zaharna breaks new ground in public diplomacy theory building and introduces much needed conceptual tools for systematically designing and analyzing new strategic communication initiatives.