About the Center for International Relations (CIR)

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CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Cultural Affairs Forum at www.CA-Forum.org and www.CulturalAffairsForum.org

Under Construction

The Cultural Affairs Forum is a vital new project of the non-profit Center for International Relations, dedicated to promoting and discussing cultural diplomacy. It intends to stimulate fresh thinking in the corridors of power by ripping down the barriers that exist between how we think of culture and politics as separate entities. Twenty-first century politicians and thinkers (there might be some overlap) largely agree we are fighting a "War on Terror" and that we have chosen values as our battleground (Tony Blair, ?A Battle for Global Values?, Foreign Affairs, Jan/Feb. 07). Even those who are uncomfortable with the rhetoric of "War", especially when deployed against a concept, not an army, understand that our values are being challenged by both the external threats, and our own response to them.

Values derive from our culture in all its dimensions, and even the most diverse culture has a set of core values it accepts implicitly. If we believe that our values are "stronger, better, and more just" (Tony Blair, ibid.) , war is just one means of proof; frequently not the most effective, nor the morally-preferable one, and certainly not the most flexible or versatile.

I would like to invite you to join the Cultural Affairs Forum in elevating Cultural Diplomacy on the world stage, reviving a critical alternative (or at least supplement) to force, one which has been criminally neglected since the end of the Cold War.

Cultural Diplomacy is a powerful blend of persuasion and strategic skill, employing statecraft and 'soft power' to achieve calculated, political ends. Perhaps no country was more adept at this than the former Soviet Union with its massive propaganda apparatus. But the United States engaged its adversaries effectively on this field as well. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, WORLDNET Television, and Voice of America broadcast news and cultural programming to over 100 countries in 53 languages and were listened to with desperation and hope - often at risk of punishment. American artists, classical and jazz musicians, toured the world, even behind the Iron Curtain, to great acclaim. At the United States Information Agency, whose mission was foolishly eviscerated by over-zealous post-cold war populism, 520 Foreign Service officers managed educational, cultural, and information programs in support of American foreign policy objectives and greater mutual understanding between the U.S. and foreign cultures.

The success of effective cultural diplomacy is hard to measure, its triumphs often intangible. Successful cultural diplomacy demands and delivers the ability to convince, not coerce other governments or individuals in pursuit of common interest and mutual benefit. At its best, it rules out conflict or confrontation. Yet failure or neglect of cultural diplomacy has all-too visible results. Political capital must be spent to bring friendly governments into line, when otherwise a simple phone call would have been sufficient. Pressure or threats supplant constructive engagement, cooperation becomes more expensive, and direct diplomacy faces more obstacles. The underlying attitudes among foreign governments and people make a huge difference in achieving foreign policy objectives, and too often we miss opportunities to shape those attitudes in a constructive way.

For over 17 years Cultural Diplomacy has been missing-in-action. Even after September 11 and the armed engagements of the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq, the critical need for a rejuvenated, fresh, and ambitious strategy of Cultural Diplomacy did not leap to the head of the policy agenda. That values, ideas, culture, and beliefs - as expressed in the arts, performances, intellectual and educational exchanges - need to be presented to other countries in a non-political, well organized, and coherent fashion should be obvious. Yet five years after 9/11 little emphasis is placed on this vital instrument of soft power; as though military force were the only answer to challenges the US confronts - especially in the Middle East.

Cultural Diplomacy is not 'just' for the United States--indeed its power is enhanced for every additional nation that employs it. "Understanding" and "dialog" are not the idealistic visions and imagined foreign policy tools of the naïve, but very real, effective, and critical elements of any truly realistic foreign policy. They do not substitute for force, political muscle, or economic integration. But they are the essential elements that assure that force is not used unless necessary, they increase the mileage from flexing the national muscles, and they foster and deepen economic integration. The more every country engages in Cultural Diplomacy, the less friction there is to be overcome in international dealings and politicking.

The Cultural Affairs Forum (CAF) is bringing together champions of Cultural Diplomacy together from all political spectra and countries to give their inspirations, ideas, suggestions - as well as those ideas' critics - a widely-heard voice and a forum for discussion and constructive dialog. CAF intends to heighten our awareness of the urgent need for a vibrant cultural diplomacy and leverage the public debate by publishing articles, interviews, essays, and editorials in our journal, by hosting discussions, round-tables and forums, and by identifying and promoting talented young journalists and public policy analysts who know why cultural affairs matter on the world stage. Not "American Idol", but Global (intellectual) Talent.

CAF will also establish its on-line journals as one-stop information source for commentary and news on cultural events in important cities around the world. This will include comprehensive cultural calendars for each covered city, reviews of important cultural events ? including exhibitions, performances, and publications ? and links to every important cultural institution and publication in our area of coverage, including every Cultural Office of every U.S. embassy abroad, and every embassy in the U.S.

To do all this, the Center for International Relations (CIR), CAF's not-for-profit (501 (c) 3) parent, will draw on the broad experience and savvy network of volunteers that we have built up under the auspices of the International Affairs Forum (IAF) since 2002. As CIR's on-line journal, IAF reaches over 1500 people a day in over 120 countries. With its deep commitment to an "equal opportunity partisan" exchange of ideas, IAF is an ideal complement to the Cultural Affairs Forum. In building a highly expert, capable, experienced and keenly involved Advisory Board, CAF will not only stimulate the public discussion of the importance of Cultural Affairs and Diplomacy but also advance the cause of high culture: debating and defining the highest cultural standards and securing the shared values of a global community living through an age where, ironically, the faster civilization advances, the more vigorously forces of reactionary - indeed, pre-modern values - rise up against it.

High culture, allied with public policy, rather than sidelined from political debate, is an essential and unifying force for civilized exchange between people. Sensibly and wisely integrated with traditional state diplomacy, it can safeguard everything we hold precious in this troubled, yet bracing and challenging, world. I hope you are looking forward to the creation of the fully functional (and re-designed) Cultural Affairs Forum and assist us with criticism and suggestions at jlaurson[at]ca-forum[dot]org.

Jens F. Laurson
Editor-in-Chief

Board of Directors

Dr. John J. Tierney, Jr., Former Executive Director of the Congressional Caucus on National Defense, U.S. House of Representatives; frmr. Faculty Chairman, The Institute of World Politics (Washington DC)
James Stockmal, Director, BearingPoint
Dimitri Neos, Executive Director, Center for International Relations

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Washington DC: Jens F. Laurson, Oksana Khadarina, Charles T. Downey

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