The Role of the Arts and Culture in Public Diplomacy

Arts and cul­ture play a cen­tral role in the diplo­matic strate­gies of numer­ous coun­tries, which see the pre­sen­ta­tion of their cul­ture abroad as a chance to tell the world who they are and to cre­ate a pos­i­tive image use­ful in pur­su­ing their goals. At a time when pub­lic diplo­macy is the sub­ject of renewed inter­est on the part of the gov­ern­ments of many West­ern democ­ra­cies, it is fit­ting to reflect upon the role that arts and cul­ture could play in Canada’s for­eign pol­icy. On Novem­ber 22, 2007, the CCA held a one-day sym­po­sium in order to com­pile the best cur­rent prac­tices in this area, eval­u­ate their impact and iden­tify future directions.

Read the sum­mary from the sym­po­sium.