This thesis is a case study of a cultural institution located in Paris, France, namely the Arab World Institute. It strives to identify the various political and ideological discourses that manifest themselves throughout the Institute's history. The Institute's mission is to bridge the two cultures, Arab and European. It is a particularly interesting case study because of its problematic status which lies somewhere between the imperatives of local policies and those inherent to the international arena. / The first chapter is a presentation of the institute, its history and its mission. It also dwells upon the local French political scene and the relations between France and the Arab world. It also offers a brief overview of the political and social realities of the Arab world. / Chapter two is an introduction to the particularities of the French cultural landscape. It looks at the historical and social movement towards the democratization of culture, specifically through the transformation of the museum and of cultural institutions as a whole. / Chapter three aims at identifying the repercussions of the French cultural policies on the Institute's functioning. The perceived failure of these policies is confronted with the official discourse surrounding the Institute. / Chapter four is a mapping of the different discourses that manifest themselves through the Institute. The multiplicity of the discourses and the discrepancies of their proclaimed objectives are understood to be at the source of the malfunctioning of the Institute. / This thesis does not attempt at finding solutions to the many problems of the Arab World Institute. It is rather an excavation work that aims at bringing forth some of the issues that could be explored while attempting at finding a resolution to the ailments of the Institute.

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