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The Other Air Force: U.S. Efforts to Reshape Middle Eastern Media Since 9/11 (War Culture) Paperback – Illustrated, October 1, 2016

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Winner of the 2019 Alpha Sigma Nu Book Award

As it seeks to win the hearts and minds of citizens in the Muslim world, the United States has poured millions of dollars into local television and radio programming, hoping to generate pro-American currents on Middle Eastern airwaves. However, as this fascinating new book shows, the Middle Eastern media producers who rely on these funds are hardly puppets on an American string, but instead contribute their own political and creative agendas while working within U.S. restrictions.  

 

The Other Air Force gives readers a unique inside look at television and radio production in Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories, from the isolated villages of the Afghan Panjshir Valley to the congested streets of Ramallah. Communications scholar Matt Sienkiewicz explores how the U.S. takes a “soft-psy” approach to its media efforts combining “soft” methods of encouraging entertainment programming, such as adaptations of The Voice and The Apprentice with more militaristic “psy-ops” approaches to information control. Drawing from years of field research and interviews with everyone from millionaire executives to underpaid but ever resourceful cameramen, Sienkiewicz considers the perspectives of the Afghan and Palestinian media workers trying to forge viable broadcasting businesses without straying outside American-set boundaries for acceptable content.   

 

As it carefully examines the interplay of U.S. military and economic might with the capacity for local ingenuity and resistance, the book also analyzes the intriguingly complex programming that emerges from this tension. Combining eyewitness reportage with cutting-edge scholarship, The Other Air Force reveals the remarkable creative output that can emerge even from the world’s tensest conflict zones.

 
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  1. Part of series
    War Culture
  2. Print length
    224 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Rutgers University Press
  5. Publication date
    October 1, 2016
  6. Reading age
    17 years and up
  7. Dimensions
    6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
  8. ISBN-10
    0813577985
  9. ISBN-13
    978-0813577982
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Powerful and illuminating." ― Prospect Magazine

"The Other Air Force stands as a helpful study on the subtle ways U.S. government agencies try to advance their own agendas under the pretext of development and community support. By shedding light on the resourcefulness and creativity of those who work within the circumscribed boundaries of such projects, it also precludes simplistic classifications of such people as native informants working on behalf of their oppressors, highlighting instead the everyday resistance that soft-psy media inevitably provokes." ― The New Inquiry

"Sienkiewicz’s ability to pack both granular history and broad theory into a concise package makes his book a rare treat among academic titles." ― The Bridge

"The Other Air Force is one of the best books I've read in years. Matt Sienkiewicz's close look at the hard-core sell of 'soft-psy media' details how the U.S. persuades invaded, occupied, and colonized peoples to make media that advances America's interests and yet still appears to be under local control. Sienkiewicz examines carefully who is really behind the curtain, pulling strings and pressing buttons in the US theatre of soft-psy media. All is not as it seems when creating the American dream." -- Mohammed Omer ― award winning journalist and author of Shell-Shocked: On the Ground Under Israel's Gaza Assault

"Interesting and deeply relevant … Its purview is quite remarkable - taking in media of all kinds across the Middle East." ― The New Arab

 
"The Other Air Force is a timely and extremely valuable contribution to the fields of Media Studies and International Relations. It should be read by students, scholars, journalists, policy makers, and anyone else interested in understanding how media and politics are intertwined in the conflict zones of the Middle East." -- Dina Matar ― author of What It Means to Be a Palestinian

"By way of fine-grained, field-based case studies of US-assisted  Afghan and Palestinian media, The Other Air Force recasts development communication through the prism of media assistance, and in doing so, demonstrates how global US hegemony goes hand in hand with local creativity. Made concrete by an appealing cast of mediators, enforcers, and cultural conmen, Sienkiewicz’s notion of 'Soft-Psy Media' is a welcome addition to the theoretical and pedagogical toolkits of global communication studies."
  -- Marwan Kraidy ― author of The Naked Blogger of Cairo: Creative Insurgency in the Arab World

"The Other Air Force is innovatively conceptualized and meticulously researched. Anyone interested in media, culture, and politics in the Middle East after 9/11 will be turning to this book for years to come." -- Aswin Punathambekar ― University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

"With striking case studies and scient attention to the complex interplay of top-down strategy and policies, bottom-up resistance and negotiations along with labor, gender, and geopolitics, Sienkiewicz’s book offers an indispensable guide for researchers in communication and Middle Eastern studies." -- Ipek A. Celik Rappas ― Film International

"In provoking such questions and by introducing new interpretations of U.S. media strategy in the region, Sienkiewicz’s book is a welcome contribution to the fields of Middle East studies, media and cultural studies, as well as postcolonial studies." ― Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly

About the Author


MATT SIENKIEWICZ is an assistant professor of communication and international studies at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. He is the coeditor of Saturday Night Live and American TV and has produced a number of documentaries, including Live from Bethlehem..

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rutgers University Press; None edition (October 1, 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0813577985
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0813577982
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 17 years and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.3 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:

About the author

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Matt Sienkiewicz

Matt Sienkiewicz

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Matt Sienkiewicz is Chair of the Boston College Communication Department and Associate Professor of Communication and International Studies.

He teaches courses in global media cultures and media theory. His research focuses on the intersection of U.S. foreign policy and media, as well as Comedy Studies.

He is the author of "That's Not Funny: How the right makes comedy work for them" (University of California Press, 2022) "The Other Air Force: U.S. Efforts to Reshape Middle Eastern Media Since 9/11" (Rutgers University Press, 2016) and the co-editor of "The Comedy Studies Reader" (University of Texas Press, 2018) and "Saturday Night Live and American TV" (Indiana University Press, 2013)

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Top reviews from the United States

NateMeyvis
5.0 out of 5 stars Important, expert, accessible.
Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2017
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This discussion is both expert and accessible. The subject of the book is both engaging and important, and I'll confess that, aside from Cold War stories about various sorts of "soft influence," I didn't know much of anything about soft-psy (or psyops, etc.). If you are interested in Middle Eastern politics, the future of American values in the age of Trump, or any number of other subjects, this will be a worthwhile read. (The author is a friend of mine, but these are my sincere opinions.)
2 people found this helpful
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The Grey Keyboards
5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT read on noble goals, unexpected benefits, and unintended consequences
Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2016
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A fantastic exploration of a topic which rarely makes the Western news -- soft power. In this case, by fostering democratic institutions and media organizations in the Middle East, the US has helped empower the local populace -- with all of the benefits and consequences that come as a result.
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Michael Sweeney
5.0 out of 5 stars Great resource.
Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2016
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Will be adding this book to my cirriculum next semester. Great resource .
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David Patrikarakos
5.0 out of 5 stars This is a powerful and deeply relevant book for our ...
Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2018
This is a powerful and deeply relevant book for our times - it a must read for anyone interested in media and in the Middle East. It straddles the academic and the popular. It is a "must-read" in every sense of the word for those wishing to understanding the changing media landscape that altering the very reality around us.
One person found this helpful
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A.O.
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2016
5/5. Would read again.
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