Recently, scholars have begun to examine American and Soviet relations in the 1950s. These studies, however, do not concentrate upon the Soviet leadership’s use of cultural exchange, nor do these studies explore the Soviets’ reliance on the arts as a foreign policy tool. Similarly, though studies analyze evidence for a possible thaw in American-Soviet diplomatic relations and investigate this potential thaw’s ramifications within the Soviet Union, no major studies concentrate on the thaw with regard to cultural exchange. This dissertation explores whether the Bolshoi Ballet’s 1959 American tour provided evidence of a genuine thaw in American-Soviet relations, and simultaneously seeks to understand the arts’ prominent role within Soviet foreign policy and examine the role of tsarist culture within Soviet society. Specifically, this study investigates the rationale behind the creation of the Bolshoi’s repertoire and the Soviet leadership’s objectives and interpretation of the tour’s effectiveness as well as Americans’ responses to the tour. The dissertation’s main focus concerns the four ballets, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Giselle, and The Stone Flower, and the Soviets’ attempt to use these ballets to alter Americans’ anti-Soviet opinions. Soviet officials’ public and private statements demonstrate their reliance on the arts as a political weapon. The Soviets conceived of the ballet as an effective political tool that disseminated Communist messages. Conversely, the American public and critics understood the ballet as an art form divorced from political overtones. These contrasting viewpoints weakened the Soviets’ cultural offensive. At the official level, members of the American government deliberately tried to minimize the Bolshoi’s effect as Cold War propaganda. This study concludes that the Bolshoi’s 1959 tour indicated the Soviets’ determination to employ the ballet as a weapon designed to achieve a Soviet Cold War victory. Even though the Bolshoi’s tour did not represent a thaw in American-Soviet relations and did not sway American impressions of the Soviet Union, the tour played an integral role in the Soviets’ grand strategy for a worldwide Soviet Communist victory.

Successful communication requires that the two parties involved in the activity acquire mutually shared socio-cultural background knowledge. The shared expectations, beliefs and cultural values enable the two parties to properly and correctly infer the intended meaning of each other's messages in order to respond or act accordingly and appropriately. International diplomats, who use language at almost al I times to conduct and negotiate international relations, belong to different cultures. This implies that they do not share sociocultural background knowledge which is vital ly crucial for any successful communication. The diversity of their expectations, beliefs and values causes interference between linguistic and sociocultural meanings which leads to problems of misunderstanding and misinterpretation. By applying sociolinguistics perspective in its holistic sense, the thesis investigated diplomatic communication events of personal experience of the 'dip l omat-res ear cher' as we 11 as se If -reported events by the career diplomats who were interviewed and taperecorded. The analysed diplomatic events were measured by quantitative data obtained from the questionnaire which was distributed among ambassadors around the world. The questionnaire results were corroborated by the results obtained from the events of persona 1 exper i ence as we 11 as by the e vents reported by the career di pl omats. iii The verified results, which proved the thesis' hypothesisq explored the shortcomings of current diplomatic communication; misunderstand i ng, misinterpretation and misjudgement characterized the career diplomats' activities and eventuated undesired and unfortunate outcomes. In order to overcome such unpleasant results and to minimize the effect of the diversity of diplomats' socio-cultural background the thesis proposed certain criteria which included elements of the language of diplomacy, qualities of good diplomats and principles of conducting successful diplomatic communication. By observing and satisfying the conditions of these criteria, future diplomacy is most likely to produce successful results.

As a conceptual term for national development relations, soft power has been paid more and more attention in recent years. Although the rise of soft power is indisputable, the most significant questions are how to build soft power and the most effective way to build soft power. The theoretical viewpoint held by this thesis is that more soft power can be obtained most effectively through cultural diplomacy. The basis is based on the observation of Japan. Japan has successfully achieved cultural diplomacy in North America through a foreign cultural propaganda agency called the Japan Foundation. Therefore, in addition to analyzing the theoretical framework of soft power and cultural diplomacy, this paper will also focus on the case study of the Japan Foundation in North America. By constructing the theoretical framework and the case study, this thesis aims to provide a practical example for future research or cultural diplomacy practice. / Master thesis

In today¡¦s world, most nations seek for not only maximizing military and economic power, but also using their influence of soft power to other countries. Cultural diplomacy is the tool to help a country establish and spread its ¡§soft power¡¨; cultural diplomacy has become an essential option when the country develops its external relations. This article intends to realize the importance and method of the cultural diplomacy, and the utilities of the cultural diplomacy. Except America, China and the EU are absolutely the two great powers in the world. From culture diplomacy¡¦s perspective, this article examines what kind of the role that culture can play between China and the EU. According to the different self-identity, China will take different external actions. Emphasizing cultural diplomacy helps China defuse fears of ¡§the Rise of China¡¨ from the outside world. On the other side, culture is the key factor to help Europe retaining its advantage and conducting new ¡§Europe identity¡¨ at the same time. It¡¦s true that China and the EU do exist potential conflicts, but it is also difficult to deny the effectiveness of cultural diplomacy. Cultural diplomacy doesn¡¦t create ¡§zero-conflict¡¨ status, it also fairly concentrates on the way and attitude to solve problem. Even though China and EU contend for some issues, cultural diplomacy will continue to provide its function.

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This thesis examines visual and material culture in relation to free trade in North America, focusing on cultural production between 1985 and 2012. These dates broadly encompass a period in which the Canadian state entered into progressively larger free trade agreements with neighbouring states, including the United States in 1989 and Mexico in 1994. This period resulted in significant changes to the dominant understandings of North America. I trace the substantial role that art endeavors played in establishing and naturalizing economic integration in the continent. Through discussion of diverse examples of art production, I posit that consideration of the selected artworks and exhibitions is integral to properly assessing histories of free trade in North America. Each chapter deals with a different case study of forms of art production, chosen because they helped promote new understandings of North America after the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. These case studies deal with how exhibitions of modern and contemporary landscape art and exhibitions of indigenous visual and material culture contribute to constructing narratives of North America. They also cover the contemporary art festival inSite, as well as the history of Mexican modern art in Canada. I demonstrate that visual and material culture played an integral role in deploying new understandings of the continent, while concurrently serving as a means to circulate counter-narratives of North America. To foreground Canadian artistic responses to free trade, I insert interstices between every chapter, each focused on a specific work of contemporary video art from the period. These six interstices demonstrate a sustained engagement by Canadian contemporary artists to respond to and comment on North American integration, and thus provide a map to the key issues of neoliberal expansion. / Thesis (Ph.D, Art History) -- Queen's University, 2013-09-26 20:06:23.882

My thesis paper mainly focuses on the China cultural diplomacy and its soft power policy. China¡¦s economic reforms have transformed the international status. China is raising power recently. However China suffered the question about the political validity and the doubt of China threat, in order to keep maintaining a peaceful international environment, China has learned to use soft issues to serve its national interests. Cultural soft power is the best choice for China in such situation. According to Joseph Nye¡¦s idea, soft power is attracting force derived mainly from intangible resources such as national culture, political values, and its foreign policies. This thesis discovered that Beijing although wants to remold the civilized great nation image, it has to deal with the domestic belief crisis. Even, China on the one hand must construct the opening national image; on the other hand still continue to suppress the domestic Internet opinion. The Chinese Communist Party which cultivates the soft power is the destroyer. China ignores that the cultural diplomacy intrinsic essence is to sell the truth. China packs the national image with the cultural soft power without thinking of the national prestige. Although China repeatedly emphasizes the harmonious peace, the international society is still filled with anxiety about the China's power.

This case study focuses on the current purpose of the Art in Embassies (AIE) program that is run by the U.S. Department of State. More specifically, it examines how the temporary exhibition of art placed in Reykjavik, Iceland by AIE aids in fulfilling that purpose. I sought to determine how the U.S. Embassy in Iceland uses the exhibition and accompanying catalogue produced by Art in Embassies to educate visitors about American culture and aid in the embassy's cultural diplomacy efforts. I accomplished this by conducting interviews with the ambassador and Public Affairs staff in Reykjavik, members of the AIE staff, artists whose work was included in the exhibition, and Icelanders who had the opportunity to view the art in the ambassador's residence. My goal in researching this topic was to contribute to our understanding of the role visual art can play in cultural diplomacy. Initially, it was unclear to me how education factors into Art in Embassies, given that access to the art is limited. It is now my belief that there are certain posts around the world that are working to utilize their AIE exhibition to its fullest potential, and they should be commended for their efforts. However, much more needs to be done to encourage all ambassadors to use art as a tool for diplomacy. The lack of current research on Art in Embassies was a chief motivator for conducting this study. In recent years, the number of people researching the field of cultural diplomacy and writing on why the U.S. government should better engage in it has steadily increased (Cummings, 2003; Hurlburt & Ivey, n.d.; Sablosky, 2003; Schneider, 2002/2009). Despite this fact, little has been done to address this issue. As a well-established government program focused on art and culture, Art in Embassies is uniquely positioned to engage audiences around the world by harnessing the power of art to foster goodwill and mutual understanding. / text

A Study of the U. S. Diplomatic Library In Mexico City by Lauren Ann Waelder, M. S. in Information Studies The University of Texas at Austin, 2013 SUPERVISOR: Philip Doty This paper addresses the topic of diplomatic libraries. It opens with a section covering the topic in general, but then focuses on the specific scope of the paper. It focuses on the circumstances associated with the library in Mexico City that goes with the U. S. Embassy to Mexico. That library is the Benjamin Franklin Library, established in 1942 and named after the person from the early United States history. It attempts to provide an overview of the library, as well as theoretical framework surrounding diplomatic libraries and cultural relations in the United States. The paper accomplishes these goals in two ways. First, it performs a review of relevant literature, both old and new, on the topic. This literature review also analyzes the gap in information between the older and more recent sources, focusing on a difference between the older works’ historical base and the newer works’ practical experience. Second, it also incorporates original research through an actual visit to the library in Mexico City. The paper goes on to discuss the two research questions and thirteen other questions that a process of interviews with three different groups of Ben Franklin Library librarians was able to answer. Finally, the paper wraps up both the literature review and the research notes through a discussion of the interaction between the two sections and how they both contribute to the paper as a whole and to an active readership. The discussion of these issues includes references to items in either form, but it transcends actual commentary on the contents of the relevant literature, focusing instead on its larger implications for the topic. It also touches briefly on a few of the ways future research could continue to enhance this field. Finally, a conclusion leaves the reader with a few comments that explain how an article of this nature provides its audience with an expansion of knowledge about the topic of diplomatic libraries and about the Benjamin Franklin Library in particular. This combination of information should allow other readers to form more educated opinions of diplomatic libraries and their place in society. / text

The Confucius Institutes (CIs) are part of a major new Chinese Government initiative promoting the learning of the Chinese language and culture internationally. They operate through a network of institutes located in learning institutions around the world, and while they have an education focus, they also reflect political changes in China’s relationship with the rest of the world. A transformation in China’s approach to foreign relations has been evident since the belligerence and self-sufficiency of the Mao era, and cautious engagement of the Deng era. In the early 21st century, China’s new foreign policy is more confident and engaged behaviour than it has ever been. The conceptual sources of China’s foreign policy have broadened from Marxism-Leninism to include some contemporary international values and traditional Chinese norms. However, managing the sphere of ideas both domestically and externally, and securing the nation’s economic development, are the main means the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) maintains its legitimacy in the early 21st century. While China’s leadership has given the CIs considerable political independence, they are part of the Party’s propaganda system. Despite some foreign concerns about the Confucius Institutes being a propaganda tool, many other countries have similar programmes; the difference is China’s political system. Through the CIs, China is building the architecture of a major power, and has succeeded in improving its international influence. But because of the lack of international attractiveness of China’s political system, this is likely to be slow. The CIs reflect a more confident and effective Chinese foreign policy; and one that offers greater opportunities for engagement.