A comparative study of the cultural diplomacy of Canada, New Zealand and India

Abstract

This thesis examines the concept and practice of cultural diplomacy. Cultural diplomacy is carried out by a government to support its foreign policy goals or diplomacy (or both) by using a wide range of cultural manifestations for a variety of purposes. The thesis examines aspects of the cultural diplomacy of Canada, Québec, New Zealand and India in order to investigate how cultural diplomacy presents a national image abroad (potentially as part of a national brand); its role in the protection of cultural sovereignty; and how it advances domestic objectives. The thesis argues that cultural diplomacy, in presenting a national image abroad, frequently emphasises a state’s modern-ness or its cultural distinctiveness. This raises the question of the link between national image and national brand and highlights the limitations inherent in national branding. For some states, cultural diplomacy plays a role in the protection of cultural sovereignty. Canadian cultural diplomacy supports the international activities of domestic cultural industries and has sought to maintain the right to provide this support within the multilateral free trade framework. Québec’s cultural diplomacy has sought to protect the province’s cultural sovereignty from a perceived threat from the Canadian federation. Cultural diplomacy helps advance domestic objectives. The cultural diplomacy of Canada has asserted the right of the federal government to be Canada’s only diplomatic voice, and to counter Québec’s claims to sovereignty. Québec’s cultural diplomacy has asserted the province’s constitutional rights and distinctiveness within the Canadian federation. In a similar way, the international exhibition Te Maori advanced the interests of Maori in New Zealand. Cultural diplomacy’s domestic impacts include positive international recognition for a state’s culture, which contributes to a state’s sense of being a distinctive national community and to its confidence, economic prosperity and nation-building. The thesis concludes that cultural diplomacy remains a valuable tool of diplomacy and is likely to become more important to governments, particularly to their public diplomacy and as a contributor to soft power, because of cultural diplomacy’s promulgation of a distinctive national identity, the increasing importance of a cultural aspect in economic interests, and the intrinsic appeal of culture to globalised populations.