U.S. Arts and Cultural Diplomacy: Post-Cold War Decline and the Twenty-First Century Debate

Within the last years, the U.S. government significantly cut funding for cultural and arts diplomacy. While arts exchanges constitute a core component of public diplomacy in many countries, recently, the U.S. arts diplomacy has not been carried out properly by the government, nor by private or public sectors. Although the international image of the U.S. has shattered, the public is reluctant to urge the government to take a lead in arts diplomacy again. A unique perception of arts in American society, prevalence of democratic and “free market” principles, and dominance of international cultural trade policy keep the debate about the governmental role in arts diplomacy in progress.