CiNii Books - The first resort of kings : American cultural diplomacy in the twentieth century

During the last five decades, U.S. cultural diplomacy programs have withered because of politics and accidents of history that have subordinated cultural diplomacy to public relations campaigning, now called "public diplomacy." With anti-Americanism on the rise worldwide, cultural diplomacy should become an immediate priority, but politicians continue to ignore this relatively inexpensive, age-old tool for promoting understanding among nations. Richard Arndt probes the history of American cultural diplomacy to demonstrate its valuable past contributions and to make a plea for reviving it for the future. Cultural relations occur naturally between people in different nations as a result of trade, tourism, student exchanges, entertainment, communications, migration, intermarriage-millions of cross-cultural encounters. But cultural diplomacy only happens when a government decides to channel and to support cultural exchange through planned programs to promote broad national interests. The First Resort of Kings examines the first eight decades of formal U.S. cultural diplomacy, from its tentative beginnings in World War I through the 1990s. Arndt also compares America's efforts with those of other nations and enriches his narrative by detailing the professional experiences of the men and women who have represented American democracy, education, intellect, art, and literature to the rest of the world. His work shows that this dialogue of American culture and education with the rest of the world is neither a frill nor a domestic political concern but is the deepest cornerstone of a positive, forward-looking U.S. foreign policy. Arndt argues that, particularly in the wake of the Iraq War, America must revive its cultural diplomacy programs as a long-term investment in international goodwill and understanding.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Cultural Diplomacy from the Bronze Age to World War I
2. Total War and Its Aftershocks
3. Designing Cultural Relations
4. Nelson Rockefeller and Other New Boys
5. The Moment of MacLeish
6. Early Field Staffing
7. Two Classical Cultural Products: Architecture and Libraries
8. Benton, Fulbright, Smith, and Mundt
9. Language Teaching, Books, and Two Visionaries
10. Postwar Losses and Fulbright's Gift
11. Re-Orienting Germany and Japan
12. The Birth of USIA
13. Center and Periphery, Coping and Reshaping
14. New Frontiers for Old: Murrow and Coombs
15. Battle's Rescue and the Birth of the Peace Corps
16. The Arts of Vision
17. Charles Frankel in the Middle
18. The Arts of Performance
19. Intellect and Government
20. Nixon and Ford, Shakespeare and Richardson
21. Six Intellectuals in Government
22. Change and Performance: Stanton's Struggle
23. Paved with Good Intentions: The Carter Reorganization
24. End Game or New Dawn? Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index

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The first resort of kings : American cultural diplomacy in the twentieth century

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