Country Profiles: Germany - Institute for Cultural Diplomacy

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9. Analysis and Conclusion The goal of this report was stated to be ‘to research whether cultural diplomacy is exercised in Germany although the term is not a part of German vocabulary, and to outline which organisations engage in activities that could be defined as cultural diplomacy.‛ The report also aimed ‚to promote the concept of cultural diplomacy in the academic and popular discourse through its findings and insights.‛ Through an examination of the historical background for cultural diplomacy in Germany, as well as current examples the report has found that there indeed are many organisations and programmes in present-day Germany which engage in cultural diplomacy as defined by this report, even though these efforts are not labelled as cultural diplomacy initiatives. Many organisations and programmes do significantly contribute to ‘the exchange of ideas, information, values, systems, traditions, beliefs, and other aspects of culture‛ as the examples of intercultural businesses, academic exchange programmes and multicultural football leagues demonstrate. Through the above assessments the report has also discovered many interesting trends which will be analysed in the following. This section will start with a summary of the historical development of cultural diplomacy in Germany where we will give one possible explanation for why the term ‘cultural diplomacy‛ no longer is used publicly in Germany. We will then go on to assess whether the projects which can be counted as cultural diplomacy in Germany have changed their character over time. This report has shown that cultural diplomacy in the form of nation branding was an important part of German foreign policy before the Second World War. As the examples of the Deutsche Akademie, Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst and the Olympic Games of 1936 all demonstrate: Cultural diplomacy was consciously conducted by the public sector through the traditional pillars of language education, academic exchange, and the promotion of German sports and arts abroad. However, the misuse of these promotional structures under Hitler, lead to an abandonment of cultural diplomacy as aggressively pursued by the German government. As Benjamin Hanna of the department for culture and communication at the German Foreign Office argues, the public cultural diplomacy in Germany is no longer directly done by the government. 142 Instead the government promotes the knowledge of German language, culture and interests abroad through independent institutions which are predominantly financed by the state. Examples of such institutions are the Goethe-Institute and the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (German Academic Exchange Service). This rather unique structure, which was conceived of after the Second World War has stood its ground until today and indeed seems to expand through new initiatives such as ‘weltwärts‛and‘kulturweit‛. If cultural diplomacy stands strong, yet unnamed, in the public sector, another trend has emerged over the last few years which sees initiatives from the private sector and civil society grow in scope and importance. The private sector is no stranger to societal initiatives as the growing awareness of corporate social responsibility (CSR) shows. Yet, in the past CSR was often focused on employee welfare. The examples chosen for this report suggest that although this is still an important part of CSR, new fields such as environmental awareness and intercultural understanding and competencies are increasingly important. Thus, big firms such as Siemens and LANXESS sponsor programmes which aim to further intercultural exchange. However, also on the level of medium and small business we can see that issues like
integration gain ground. Through enterprises like ‘Weltküche‛ we even see how businesses are founded on the idea that they should serve as a tool for integration and cultural diplomacy. This development can possibly be seen in relation with the surge in popularity of micro-credit and help-for-self-help initiatives over the last ten years. Finally, as already touched upon, an entirely new pillar of cultural diplomacy agents is emerging: Cultural diplomacy as conducted by civil society. While individuals and their exchange always has been crucial for cultural diplomacy, and thereby does not represent anything new, the rise of cultural diplomacy within civil society has to be seen in relation to the rise of the concept of ‘civil society‛ in academic and popular discourse in general. The focus here is on the necessity of organised civil initiatives as a counter-weight to non- democratic international structures. As the foundation of both the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy and the Maecenata Institute illustrates, organisations aiming to provide a third voice to the debate increase. Furthermore, the cultural diplomacy directed by NGOs such as Buntkicktgut has recently received a boost through increased public recognition, in this case the establishment of a UN program of ‘Sports for Development and Peace‛. In sum, what this report shows, is that cultural diplomacy is conducted by a wide and increasing host of agents in Germany spanning every theme and size. However, the term as such has not yet been able to enter the academic or popular language in a significant manner. This is mainly connected to the negative historical connotations ‚German public diplomacy‛ evokes in people.
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Country Profiles: Germany - Institute for Cultural Diplomacy

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