Cultural Diplomacy and Propaganda During the Cold War

Diplomacy is defined as “The art or practice of conducting international relations, as in negotiating alliances, treaties, and agreements” (American Heritage English Dictionary). Why do we conduct diplomacy? Do we do so in order to ensure peaceful coexistence? Or, are we generally interested in learning about other nations? How would you define cultural diplomacy? How does the meeting of cultures benefit our country in the conduct of international relations?

Closely analyze each primary source below by clicking on the orange new window icon to view the entire document or watch the video. Then move each box to the scale according to which interpretation it supports. The documents and images in this activity may seem to lack connection. However, by keeping the above questions in mind, you’ll be able to identify the relationships between them and explore the goal of cultural diplomacy.