Promoting Public and Private Reinvestment in Cultural Exchange-Based Diplomacy By Margaret C. Ayers Robert Sterling Clark Foundation Series on International Cultural Engagement ©Margaret C. Ayers April 16, 2010 New York, N.Y. 10065 All Rights Reserved Published by the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, New York, N.Y. 10065 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of the author. Promoting Public and Private Reinvestment in Cultural Exchange- Based Diplomacy may be downloaded in PDF format from the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation website at www.rsclark.org . Table of Contents Page I. Introduction A. Robert Sterling Clark Foundation Interest in the Field 1 B. A New Day, A New Administration and New Opportunities 2 C. Definitions 3 D. Acknowledgements 5 II. Making the Case for Arts and Cultural Exchange-Based Diplomacy A. What Can Culture Do? 7 B. Building A Body of Evidence 8 C. Cultural Exchange is Good for Business 10 D. The Bottom Line 10 III. Trends in U.S. Public Support for Arts and Cultural Exchange-Based Diplomacy A. An Overview of U.S. Public Diplomacy 11 B. Agency Involvement in Public Diplomacy Post 1999 14 1. The Department of State 2. The Broadcasting Board of Governors 3. The Department of Defense C. Deterrents to Successful Cultural Engagement 22 1. Public Sector Disinvestment 2. Fragmentation of Public Diplomacy Post 1999 3. U.S. Cultural Trade Deficit 4. No Reporting Relationship between U.S. Embassies and the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs 5. Other Government Policies that Inhibit Exchange a. The Patriot Act b. New Procedures for Obtaining Visas c. Withholding Taxes on Foreign Artists D. Models of Cultural Diplomacy 27 1. Foreign Models 2. Virtual Diplomacy IV. Public Sector Recommendations 30 V. Trends in Private Sector Giving for Cultural Engagement: Research Findings A. Foundation Disinvestment in International Cultural Exchange (2003-2008 ) 32 1. Giving for International Engagement is Less than 1% of Total Arts Giving 2. Few Foundations Provide Meaningful Support 3. Large Foundations with Historical Commitments to International Engagement Leave Field 4. Disinvestment in the Field Over Time as Measured by Number of Grants, Number of Foundations and Number of Recipients B. Characteristics of Grant Recipients 36 1. Geographic Distribution 2. Disciplinary Distribution 3. Types of Exchange Supported 4. Size of Recipients C. Other Sources of Support for International Engagement 40 1. Case Studies: Large Presenting Organizations 2. Corporate Grantmaking VI. Opportunities for Private Sector Investment in International Cultural Engagement 43 VII. Appendices A. Scope of Study and Definitions 48 B. Methodology 50 C. Research Challenges 53 D. Participants in RSCF Roundtable with Representatives of 57 Foreign Governments E. Participants in Foundation Grantmaking Classification 58 Case Studies (Asia Society and Large Performing Arts Presenters) F. Trends in Foundation Support for Direct International 59 Arts Exchange 2003-2008 (Foundation Grants Index Data) G. U.S. Public and Cultural Diplomacy Timeline– 77 October 1999-December 2009 H. Individuals Interviewed or Consulted During the Research Process 86 “The arts are what we find again when the ruins are cleared away.” Katherine Anne Porter 1940 Promoting Public and Private Reinvestment in Cultural Exchange-Based Diplomacy Introduction Robert Sterling Clark Foundation Interest in the Field In 2007, with the Bush Administration’s aggressive foreign policy looming large in the world’s perception of the United States, the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation expanded its arts research agenda to include a major in-house project aimed at shedding light on the recent history of public and private support for public diplomacy and international arts and cultural exchange. Since 1953, the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) had been the major player in the field, spending countless millions during the Cold War to project a positive image of the United States and the democratic principles upon which it was founded. But when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989 and the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, U.S. government expenditures for cultural exchange and public diplomacy were increasingly viewed as superfluous and were subsequently reduced. By the turn of the century, the USIA had been dismantled and its functions transferred to a number of different agencies resulting in extreme fragmentation. Its few remaining cultural exchange programs were moved to the Department of State. After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, an outpouring of international sympathy was quickly eroded following the Bush Administration’s invasion of Iraq. And in the wake of the war, with no public diplomacy infrastructure remaining, world opinion toward the United States began a rapid downward spiral. From 2001 through 2008, the Pew Global Attitudes Project produced some 21 reports based on 175,000 interviews in 54 different countries. 1 These reports reveal a staggering decline in our international image among our friends and enemies alike. This decline most assuredly is reflective of our rush to war with Iraq as well as our disregard for the positions of longtime allies and our willingness to take unilateral action, often in the face of world opposition. It is this willingness to act unilaterally despite global criticism that has made us the object of international outrage, with few public or private mechanisms through which to build constructive relationships with peoples and nations abroad. One of the consequences of public and private disinvestment in public diplomacy has been the demise of many nonprofit organizations engaged in cultural exchange that had long been sustained through partial government support. Funded as a public-private partnership by USIA and a limited number of foundations, Arts International was probably the most important of the post-Cold War cultural exchange organizations that ultimately went bankrupt. In the early years of the new century, important private foundations followed in the path of the U.S. government, reducing their investment in public diplomacy and cultural exchange. Consequently, organizations that had been financed by private foundations began to have difficulty. Ultimately, many went out of business. The Center for Arts and Culture, which had produced a body of research that helped document the importance of cultural exchange, was among a growing number of groups that were forced to close their doors. 1 http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=263 . 1 While the federal government has provided only limited support for arts and cultural exchange in recent years, it certainly was the major source of support during the decades following the end of World War II. Within the private foundation world the story is much the same. With the exception of the Trust for Mutual Understanding, members of the foundation community that provided major support for cultural exchange during the Cold War have either discontinued support (e.g., Ford, Rockefeller, and Pew) or operate substantially reduced programs. Because the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation believes that the United States cannot afford to ignore potential foreign policy tools such as cultural exchange-based diplomacy, we made the decision to undertake a research project that would make the case for renewed investment in this field on the part of government and private foundations. Our research brings together data on public and private support for arts and cultural engagement; it provides information on the deterrents to exchange-based diplomacy; and it describes models of engagement practiced by the U.S. government and foreign governments, as well as private nonprofit organizations. Finally, we have presented a series of recommendations and opportunities for consideration by the public and private sectors that may, if implemented, help the U.S. engage constructively with others in pursuit of a more peaceful world. A New Day, A New Administration and New Opportunities With terrorist acts continuing to be reported with some frequency, and with the financial strains resulting from the near collapse of our economy a fact of everyday life, the United States has again discovered that unilateral action is not in our best interest. The international banking crisis and the subsequent decline of world stock markets have made it only too clear that isolationism is simply not an option and that the nations of the world must collectively develop strategic alliances that will ensure military and economic security for all. It was within this context that Barack Hussein Obama was elected President of the United States in November of 2008. With his commitments to end the war in Iraq and to consider new approaches to the conduct of foreign policy, we now have a unique opportunity to make the case for developing and implementing an effective public diplomacy strategy, a strategy partially based on arts and cultural engagement. And, we believe we have an audience at the highest levels of government that is supportive of such an approach. President Barack Obama’s Arts Policy Platform states “Opening America’s doors to students and professional artists provides the kinds of two-way cultural understanding that can break down the barriers that feed hatred and fear.”2 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in her confirmation hearing, argued that “smart power