Dr. Etem develops a framework to study film diplomacy to trace the acceptance, adoption, adaptation, and rejection processes of media products and practices in transnational contexts. This framework is useful to articulate how transnational communication networks determine the political and social uses of nonfiction films. By surveying the practices of the sponsors, producers, distributors, exhibitors, and audiences of these films, Dr. Etem analyzes the historical development of transnational film cultures and their influences on the public. 

In the book, Dr. Etem focuses on how film diplomacy plays a particularly important role in the relationships between the U.S. and Turkey. She identifies the major players in the U.S.-Turkey network between 1930 and 1986. She also analyzes their uses of nonfiction films for multiple purposes such as public relations and international relations.

Her research methodology is grounded in media historiography, the study of written, oral, and visual media records. To build a comprehensive picture of media and its influences, she conducts both film and textual analysis of the media, advertisements. magazines, film catalogs, sponsored surveys and interviews, audiovisual training packages, and personal correspondences. ​

Below are some of the films from this project: