Enhancing the EU's International Cultural Relations: The Prospects and Limits of Cultural Diplomacy

The last few years have seen a dramatic growth of interest in international cultural relations (ICR) and cultural diplomacy (CD) at the EU level. This policy paper identifies some of the key opportunities and constraints in the advancement of ICR and CD in the interactive relationship between culture and foreign policy. The opportunities in the relationship are perhaps better understood and are therefore identified in only cursory fashion. Less well articulated is the nature of the constraints facing European cultural foreign policy in the contemporary era. These constraints are often understood as being structural, institutional and agential in nature. The paper also identifies factors that may enhance the resilience of European actors engaged in ICR and CD in the face of constraint. Strategies of resilience are increasingly an essential element of ICR and CD