Political entities use culture to support their soft power potential, to generate goodwill, to frame international agenda in particular ways, to erect and re-enact boundaries and/or to create societal linkages across them. While the importance of culture has been on the rise in the realm of foreign affairs, its role in this field remains one of the most under-studied aspects of state policy. In this book, a range of international experts take an unprecedented look at what role external cultural policy plays in foreign affairs. The book features historical case studies ranging from European 'civilizing' engagement with nineteenth-century China to uses of Abstract Expressionism as an instrument in the ideological struggles of the Cold War. Conceptual issues ranging from the dynamics of the 'Anglosphere' to the effects of what some term the 'culture of liberal democracy' are addressed. Current trends in the uses of culture in the EU's external relations both from the perspective of institutional developments, policies and practices in the EU and from the perspective of countries engaged by the EU's cultural policies are also discussed in greater detail. The systematic, theoretically informed and empirically supported analyses make this book an indispensable read for scholars and policy makers wishing to gain a new understanding of the role that culture plays in foreign affairs.

This edited volume explores European cultural diplomacy, a topic of growing interest across the scholarly and applied public policy communities in recent years. The contributions focus on Europe, culture and diplomacy and the way they are interlinked in the contemporary international context. The European Union increasingly resorts to cultural assets and activity for both internal and external purposes, to foster European cohesion and advancing integration, and to mitigate the demise of other foreign policy components, respectively. This calls for an analysis of the strategic role of culture, especially as it relates to the realm of EU external action. The chapters provide a conceptual discussion of culture in international relations and examine how this concept relates to cultural diplomacy and cultural strategy. The authors discuss roles and relationships with the EU’s 2016 Global Strategy and current EU attempts to foster the EU’s political and societal resilience.

"International relations can be reviewed from different perspectives. One of them is through culture. In general, a lecture and an analysis of it from this specific point of view has been neglected, attracting much less attention comparing to other issues, like the political science, the international law, or trade and commerce. The cultural perspective offers a mirror of the reality and can contribute to a better understanding of the external relations and on what is happening at other levels, usually considered as more relevant in the foreign policies and the traditional diplomacy, like politics, economic or military issues. At the same time, this cultural perspective needs a transversal focus to offer a real insight and overview of the actual scope, due to the multifaceted feature of culture considered in its broad approach. The international presence and the role of culture within the bilateral relations is conditioned by the definition of the external cultural policies and the priorities and strategies in its bilateral relations with third countries. Sometimes the external policies can have a close link with the internal cultural policies as well, being a projection of the internal priorities in the international context. The institutional structure and the competences of the different institutions can also influence in the role of culture in the bilateral relations of a specific country. Aside of that, there are other relevant factors that can be determinant in the bilateral relations with an specific country, like the historical background or the bilateral political and commercial relations, among others. Culture in the context of the international relations and cooperation between Europe and Egypt includes from the institutional level, the bilateral and multilateral relations of the European Union, and its 28 Member States at an individual level as well. Otherwise, some of these European countries have had a long presence, historical ties, and maintain some economic interests in Egypt. In this context, the different cultural policies are embedded in the external actions of the bilateral cultural relations and cooperation, where the cultural projection is a component of the cultural diplomacy as a form of soft power. The present research has as primary objective to get a deep inside in the bilateral relations, and the identification of some quantitative indicators and qualitative aspects of the European bilateral relations from the public sector, and makes a detailed analysis of which is the present situation of culture in the context of the international relations with a strategic country of the Arab region like Egypt. Getting an insight into the different facts, parameters and indicators allows to identify the different exogenous and endogenous factors which can have a determinant role, jointly with the explicit and implicit objectives, and other elements to consider, including priorities, strategies, instruments and activities. Actions taken into consideration are those from the European Union, and from some of its Member States, which are reviewed and compared in a systematic way. The research takes as case study five of the European countries, the most populated, and several specific fields. It starts checking the way how each individual country is presenting its external cultural policy in the official web, and followed by the cultural bilateral relations with Egypt. Then is verified the role of the national cultural institutes, the archaeological cooperation, the higher education, the research and scientific cooperation, the presence of culture in the cooperation to development and the media. Finally it is verified the cultural presence in the European Union's through actions and initiatives in Egypt, and checked how the individual cultural bilateral relations of the selected countries fit together with them. The result offers a broad and comprehensive perspective of the presence of culture in international relations and cooperation in the particular case of Egypt. The analysis carried out allows concluding an insufficiently structured place of culture in the European external relations and cooperation with Egypt, the missed coordination among the different actors involved, the individual interests, and some incoherencies as well. The different sources and bibliography consulted are in different languages: Catalan, Spanish, French, and English. The Arab sources have been consulted when published or translated into some of these four languages." -- TDX.

The UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (CDCE) was adopted in 2005 and designed to allow States to protect and promote cultural policies. This book examines the effectiveness of the CDCE and offers ways by which its implementation may be improved to better attain its objectives. The book provides insight in how the normative character of the CDCE may be strengthened through implementation and increasingly recurrent practice based on its provisions. Hailing from various fields of international law, political and social sciences, the book’s contributors work to promote discussions on the practical and legal influence of the CDCE, and to identify opportunities and recommendations for a more effective application. Part One of the book assesses the effectiveness of the CDCE in influencing other areas of international law and the work conducted by other intergovernmental organizations through the recognition of the double nature (cultural and economic) of cultural goods and services. Part Two focuses on the practice of the CDCE beyond the recognition of the specificity of cultural goods and services in international law by addressing the CDCE’s call for greater international cooperation and stronger integration of cultural concerns in development strategies at the national and regional levels. The book will be of great use and interest to academics and practitioners in law, social and political sciences, agents of governmental and international organizations, and cultural sector stakeholders.

France has long pursued active cultural and scientific diplomacy, historically aiming to both ensure and celebrate the international presence of France in language, culture, communication, higher education, and research. French Scientific and Cultural Diplomacy asks whether such diplomacy is in danger. Examining the network of embassies, cultural institutions, and various agencies across a range of sectors, it asks whether and how French diplomatic efforts aimed at helping artists, cultural professionals, teachers, researchers, and intellectuals can be improved, arguing for a coherent foreign policy that better connects disparate sectors and promotes stronger partnerships.