A ‘Sound Investment’? British Cultural Diplomacy and Overseas Students: The British Council's Students Committee, 1935–1939

In a context of electronic distribution, each author keeps their intellectual property rights.Dans un contexte de diffusion électronique, tout auteur conserve ses droits intellectuels, notamment le fait de devoir être correctement cité et reconnu comme l'auteur d'un document.International audienceThis article explores the UK government’s first foray into cultural diplomacy by focusing on the activities of the British Council’s Students Committee in the run-up to the Second World War. Students were placed at the heart of British cultural diplomacy, which drew on foreign models as well as the experience of intra-empire exchanges. While employing cultural internationalist discourse, the drive to attract more overseas students to the United Kingdom was intended to bring economic and political advantages to the host country. The British Council pursued its policy in cooperation with non-state actors but ultimately was guided by the Foreign Office, which led it to target key strategic regions, principally in Europe and the Mediterranean Basin