policy and advocacy

Issue Brief: Cultural Exchanges Through the U.S. Department of State

Strengthening Ties Between the United States and the World

ACTION NEEDED
We urge Congress to increase funding by $10 million for the Cultural Programs Division of the State Department’s Office of Citizen Exchanges in the FY07 SSJC/State and Foreign Operations appropriations bills. 
 
TALKING POINTS

• Cultural exchange is critical to our security efforts around the world.
• As Thomas Kean, chairman of the 9/11 Commission, noted, “The United States should rebuild the scholarship, exchange, and library programs that reach out to young people and offer them knowledge and hope."
• Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in congressional testimony, “We need to do much more to confront hateful propaganda, dispel dangerous myths, and get out the truth. We will increase our exchanges with the rest of the world."
• Programs in exchange and collaboration in the arts and cultural fields build bridges among people of different countries, cultures, and faiths.
• A July 2005 assessment of state-based international exchange programs sponsored by the State Department revealed that among survey respondents, 98 percent of foreign exchange visitors gained a better understanding of the United States and its people. Similarly, 87 percent of foreign exchange hosts reported gaining knowledge about the country and culture of the foreign exchange visitor.
• One example of how such programs work is the International Partnerships Among Museums (IPAM), supported by the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. IPAM encourages the creation of links between museums in the United States and similar institutions around the world. Ninety percent of the institutions that have participated in IPAM are still in contact.
• There is broad bipartisan support for improving public diplomacy.
• Several highly respected organizations and commissions from across the political spectrum—including the Djerejian Commission on Public Diplomacy, the Heritage Foundation, and the Council on Foreign Relations—have expressed support for cultural exchange.
• In 2005, the Senate unanimously approved a resolution, sponsored by Senators Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Russell Feingold (D-WI), calling for increased coordination of international exchange programs. The House is expected to approve a similar resolution in 2006.
• A Congressional Research Service report declares exchanges are a key public diplomacy tool.
• In a September 2005 review of 29 studies on public diplomacy compiled by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, the most popular recommendation for public diplomacy reform was to increase U.S. exchange programs.
• International cultural exchange carries an economic benefit.
• According to a report by the National Governors Association, state governments find that incorporating arts and cultural exchanges in their international trade and business development serves to expand trading relationships with other nations and open markets abroad as a complement to more traditional efforts to generate exports.

BACKGROUND
According to a 2000 State Department survey, American embassies value cultural programs as ways to “open doors to sometimes hard-to-reach audiences,” to “help counter the persistent impression of the U.S. overseas as an insensitive giant,” and to “emphasize that American culture is diverse and vibrant and reflects American values.”

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) at the State Department is responsible for the public diplomacy activities of the United States, including international cultural exchange programs. Authorized by the Fulbright-Hays Act, these programs support U.S. foreign policy objectives by assisting in the development of friendly relations with other countries. These programs promote ties between private citizens and organizations in the United States and abroad by presenting U.S. history, society, arts, and culture in all of its diversity to overseas audiences.

The Cultural Programs Division is the principal Department of State element focused on cultural diplomacy.  The division develops programs that are carried out overseas by or under the sponsorship of U.S. Embassy public diplomacy offices; it also provides grants to U.S. nonprofits for their cultural exchange activities. The division evaluates proposed programs and grants on the basis of their artistic merit, sound logistical and administrative measures, and the potential contribution of grant activities to the achievement of U.S. foreign policy objectives.

In the last decade, the State Department’s support for cultural exchange has declined drastically, especially with the absorption of activities of the former United States Information Agency (USIA) and the elimination of the USIA’s Arts America Program. As a result, the number of exchange participants in State Department programs in the last decade has fallen by more than one-third, and staffing has decreased dramatically. State Department cultural exchange program funds are slowly climbing back from a low point of only $2 million a few years ago to an estimated $4 million currently. 

The President’s FY07 budget requests an increase of $48 million for ECA, for a total of $474.3 million. However, the budget request does not specify how much ECA should spend on cultural exchanges. Therefore, we ask Congress to direct a total of $14 million to the Cultural Programs Division of the State Department’s Office of Citizen Exchanges (an increase of $10 million over estimated current spending).  

CULTURAL EXCHANGE: ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated in her opening testimony before Congress that cultural exchange programs are a priority for her as Secretary of State:

“We also must realize that America and all free nations are facing a generational struggle against a new and deadly ideology of hatred that we cannot ignore. We need to do much more to confront hateful propaganda, dispel dangerous myths, and get out the truth. We will increase our exchanges with the rest of the world. And Americans should make a serious effort to understand other cultures and learn foreign languages. Our interaction with the rest of the world must be a conversation, not a monologue....And if I am confirmed, public diplomacy will be a top priority for me and for the professionals I lead.”  (emphasis added)

Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy & Public Affairs Karen Hughes also testified before Congress that exchanges are a high priority for her:

“Our second 'E' is exchanges, which many foreign policy professionals regard as the single most successful public diplomacy initiative of the past 50 years.”

A report by the Pentagon’s Defense Science Board Task Force on Strategic Communication recommended that bolstering exchanges should be part of a new strategic vision:

“From 1993 to 2001, overall funding for the State Department’s educational and cultural exchange programs fell more than 33 percent—and exchanges in societies with significant Muslim populations has declined. This must change. Increased, expanded and targeted exchange programs must be significantly ramped-up under the new strategic communication function.”

In January 2005, the Public Diplomacy Council called for increasing cultural exchange programs among its recommendations for improving U.S. public diplomacy:

“…increase program budgets for public diplomacy, including international broadcasting and exchange programs, four-fold over five years.”

The State Department’s Professional and Cultural Exchange Programs get top government evaluation ratings.

“The Department of State’s educational, professional, and cultural exchanges seek to improve the world’s understanding of the United States and Americans’ understanding of the world and are key components of the freedom agenda.” [FY07 Budget document]

“Global exchanges were rated effective…scores place exchanges within the top one percent of all government programs…The [OMB] reviews found the exchange programs successful at achieving or exceeding annual targets…exchange programs are on course to meet or better FY05 percentages of participants who increased their understanding of the United States following their program experience, and of participants who effected positive change in their organization or community based on knowledge gained from their exchange.”