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Synopsis Theories of the international politics and communication have played an important role in the development of communication theory, but that role has not been fully recognized and explored. Marxist theories and critiques of communication research and practices represent only one highly visible example, but the political economy of culture and communication encompasses a number of distinct theories including startism, nationalism, liberalism, Marxism, totalitarianism, communitarianism, and postmodernism. Theoretical hybrids of these types have emerged in historical formations such as Nazism, Fascism, Islamism, and Thatcherism that have in turn set the agenda for research in communication studies. The other side of the coin is that communication theory itself has had a powerful impact on theories of political economy and culture in the work of such influential writers as Habirmas, Foucalts, Giddens and Castells.