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January 26, 2026

Public diplomacy deferred: American Cultural Centers and Confucius Institutes in an era of strategic competition

Key Points

This article explores the effects of American Cultural Centers and Confucius Institutes closures on US-China relations.
Analyzed closures of American Cultural Centers and Confucius Institutes.
Examined strategic communications from US and PRC governments.
Contextualized findings within US National Security Strategies from 2017 and 2022.
Identified a pattern of strategic competition influencing cultural diplomacy.
Highlighted the role of state-sponsored education in US-PRC relations.
Demonstrated that public diplomacy actions reflect the dynamic shifting relationship between the US and PRC.

Abstract

This article examines closures of American Cultural Centers in the People’s Republic of China and Confucius Institutes in the United States as actions taken in alignment with, and justified by, government produced strategic communications. In the sphere of public diplomacy, these cases represent dynamic resistance action linked to US/PRC global paradigms. Here, shuddering state-sponsored education and cultural activities displays the strategic competition apparent in the Trump (2017)/Biden (2022) US National Security Strategies as well as the PRC’s National Defense White Paper (2019). When public diplomacy is deferred, the shifting US-PRC relationship and pathways for opposing strategic influence processes are made apparent.

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Public diplomacy deferred: American Cultural Centers and Confucius Institutes in an era of strategic competition

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