Searching for a Cultural Diplomacy [Paperback]

Recent studies on the meaning of cultural diplomacy in the twentieth century often focus on the United States and the Cold War, based on the premise that cultural diplomacy was a key instrument of foreign policy in the nations effort to contain the Soviet Union. As a result, the term cultural diplomacy has become one-dimensional, linked to political manipulation and subordination and relegated to the margin of diplomatic interactions. This volume explores the significance of cultural diplomacy in regions other than the United States or western countries, that is, regions that have been neglected by scholars so farEastern Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. By examining cultural diplomacy in these regions, the contributors show that the function of information and exchange programs differs considerably from area to area depending on historical circumstances and, even more importantly, on the cultural mindsets of the individuals involved.

Acknowledgments
List of Contributors

Introduction: Searching for a Cultural Diplomacy
Introduction: What Are We Searching For? Culture, Diplomacy, Agents and the State
Jessica C. E. Gienow-Hecht

The Model of Cultural Diplomacy: Power, Distance, and the Promise of Civil Society
Jessica C. E. Gienow-HechtandMark C. Donfried

Part I. Cultural Relations and the Soviet Union

Chapter 1.VOKS: The Third Dimension of Soviet Foreign Policy
Jean Fran?ois Fayet

Chapter 2.Mission Impossible? Selling Soviet Socialism to Americans, 1955-1958
Rosa Magnusdottir

Part II. Cultural Diplomacy in Eastern Europe

Chapter 3.Hungarian Cultural Diplomacy between 1957 and 1963 -- Echoes of Western Cultural Activity in a Communist Country
Anik? Macher

Chapter 4.Catholics in Ostpolitik? Networking and Non-State Diplomacy in the ls´