Two of the School of Media and Strategic Communications professors, Asya Cooley, Ph.D. and Skye Cooley, Ph.D., are publishing their book “The Future of Global Competition” this November.
Robert S. Hinck, Ph.D. and Sara R. Kitsch, Ph.D. were co-authors with the Cooleys on this project and both are assistant professors for the US Air Force’s educational system. “The book is about the upheavals and changes to the global order from the perspective of nations outside of the Western world, so nations like China, Russia, Iran and Venezuela,” said Dr. Skye Cooley. The book aims to see “the state of stability beyond that of traditional alliances and how other nations are adapting to/coping with changes to US hegemony,” he added.
Each co-author excels in a different area of research. Dr. Asya Cooley focuses on research in non-profit communication and philanthropy. Dr. Skye Cooley focuses his research on Russian political communication and global media and digital democracy. Dr. Robert S. Hinck focuses his research on strategic narrative and political communication. Dr. Sara R. Kitsch focuses her research on strategic narratives, women’s and gender studies and rhetorical theory and criticism. More information on their research can be found in their biographies here.
With a wide variety of research expertise, comes a well-rounded and accurate piece, which is exactly what “The Future of Global Competition” is. Each country discussed within this book is done so thoroughly and accurately. “Having Russian natives, Chinese experts, feminist experts, as well as Middle Eastern experts makes the book extremely diverse in terms of the content it provides,” said Dr. Skye Cooley, “We attempted a common methodological approach so as to give the reader a foundation of assessment, but each author also is able to draw on a wealth of individual experience to add insight and elaboration on possible trajectories.” The co-authors wanted to give an external look at the state of the global order in an attempt to reach outside of our Western perspective of the world.
Dr. Hinck is most excited about the idiosyncrasy of this book. “Oftentimes we talk about higher education as operating in silos, and this is true with international relations and communications research. Our book brings together these two disciplines to understand how strategic communications feed into and construct the ways in which foreign nations see their roles and identities in the global system, which in turn impacts their relationships with others,” he said. “In other words, the world faces a litany of challenges; to address these challenges we have to learn to understand each other,” he added. Dr. Hinck mentioned that working alongside Dr. Asya Cooley and Dr. Skye Cooley allowed for an abundance of expertise. He said they bring a vast amount of knowledge about “the world, strategic communication theory and research methods.” Dr. Hinck said the pair is great to collaborate with, and “without them, the project wouldn’t have even been possible.”
To graduate students hoping to publish their research in the future, Dr. Hinck says this: “Get involved early and often. Start by taking the initiative and go learn about all the great work your faculty are doing. Then, figure out what you are most interested in and ask how you can get involved. If you’re unsure, take the leap of faith and give it a try anyway.”
“The Future of Global Competition” is available for pre-order here.