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 FY08 State and Foreign Operations appropriations bill. This increase should be designated for the Professional Exchanges and Cultural Grant Program, currently funded at about $4 million.
TALKING POINTS
- Policymakers agree that cultural exchange is critical to our security efforts around the world. It is time we dedicate increased funding to international cultural exchange.
- 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.”
- The Heritage Foundation noted, “Cultural exchanges are part of our first line of defense, helping to bridge ideological gaps and policy disagreements with person-to-person contact and close-up views of the United States. Such programs helped end the Cold War and could have reduced costly complications for America in the global war on terror.”
- Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joe Biden has stated, “Cultural exchanges can help erase borders of hostility and build a stronger foundation of broader and deeper understanding among peoples.”
- Increased funding for the Cultural Programs Division will strengthen exchange and collaboration in the arts and cultural fields that build bridges among people of different countries, cultures, and faiths.
- A May 2006 evaluation of the State Department’s Jazz Ambassadors Program found that more than 90 percent of Embassy staff agreed that the program is effective in extending the reach of traditional diplomacy and providing alternative venues for policy dialogue. Overall, the evaluation report found that this exchange program has been “enormously successful.”
- 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.
- 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
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 in FY07. However, funding for cultural exchange has never fully recovered from the elimination of the former United States Information Agency (USIA) and the USIA’s Arts America Program. An increased appropriation would expand the State Department’s ability to foster mutual understanding between the United States and other countries.
The President’s FY08 budget requests an increase of $61 million for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) at the State Department, for a total of $486.4 million. However, the budget request does not specify how much ECA should spend on cultural exchanges. Therefore, we ask Congress to direct an increase of $10 million to the Cultural Programs Division of the State Department’s Office of Citizen Exchanges, and substantially increase funding for the Professional Exchanges and Cultural Grant Program.
The ECA Bureau 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 initiate and maintain critical dialogue that develop and spread mutual understanding between nations. These programs also 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’s activities include grant opportunities to U.S. nonprofits for cultural exchange activities; residency, mentoring and training programs; programs that are carried out overseas by or under the sponsorship of U.S. Embassy public diplomacy offices; and presentations at major international visual arts exhibitions and cultural centers. 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.
Recipients of Cultural Exchange Grants, 2004-2006
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My Hero Project, |
Bond Street Theater, |
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Film Foundation, |
Brigham Young University, |
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Pegasus Players, |
CEC Arts Link, |
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Quest: Arts for Everyone, |
Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts, |
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Arts for Change, |
The Silk Road Project, |
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The AjA Project, |
Tribeca Film Institute, |
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Arab Community Center for Economic |
UCLA Center for Intercultural |
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John F. Kennedy Center for the |
Intl. Visitors Council, |
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University of Iowa Writing Program, |
Ohio Arts Council, |
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Appalshop, |
Institute for Training & Development, |
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Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, |
Jazz at Lincoln Center, |