The twentieth century was undoubtedly the era of democratization and concomitant development of more scientific and sophisticated forms of public relations, particularly in the United States and countries of Western Europe. The 1990s also was the decade of globalization because of the founding of the World Trade Organization and the formation of many regional and trans-region blocs such as NAFTA, the European Union, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC, founded in 1989), and Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). Economic cooperation was the primary focus behind the formation of these trading blocs and has resulted in significant increases in cross-national trading and communication. Consequently, public relations professionals have been thrust into managing some, if not most, of this transnational communication. The need for a comprehensive body of knowledge that will help public relations practitioners operate strategically in this global context prompted the conceptualization of this book. There can be little debate that public relations professionals and students (as future professionals) can greatly benefit by increasing their knowledge of global public relations concepts and practices. In addition to describing various public relations practices across all regions of the world, there is a dire need to contextualize such practice by linking public relations practices with sociocultural variables. We hope that in taking such an approach, this book lays the foundation for establishing a holistic body of knowledge based on a comprehensive conceptual framework. We believe that the contributors to this book, as seasoned public relations scholars, consultants, and practitioners, are in a very good position to describe the state of public relations in their country or region as well as relate such practice to relevant sociocultural variables. We hope this book will be the harbinger of many attempts that will build on and refine the framework and contents of this book.
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