Global Initiative on Culture and Society

Public Cultural Diplomacy Roundtables

The Aspen Institute hosted a roundtable on April 2, 2008 to reflect on the impact of the arts and culture in the strengthening of international relations, and to highlight agenda issues for its upcoming World Forum on Cultural Diplomacy in Paris.

Denise Djokic, Cellist

This roundtable on the diplomacy of arts and culture was organized by the Aspen Institute Global Initiative on Culture and Society in collaboration with Americans for the Arts, the British Council, the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, and the Embassy of Canada.

It brought together a group of 42 culture and business leaders, artists, academics, diplomats, donors, media professionals, and policymakers to reflect on the impact of the arts and culture in the strengthening of international relations, and to highlight critical issues that could further inform the agenda of the first Aspen Cultural Diplomacy Forum held in Paris, France, from November 13 to 15, 2008.

Introductory remarks describing the rationale and the significance of the roundtable to work of the Aspen Institute were made by Damien Pwono, Executive Director of the Aspen Institute Global Initiative on Culture and Society, and Walter Isaacson, President and CEO of the Aspen Institute. A captivating cello performance by Denise Djokic, courtesy of the Embassy of Canada, was followed by brief presentations by the Hon. Alina Romanowski, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Education and Cultural Affairs; Robert L. Lynch, President and CEO, Americans for the Arts; and Carolyn Strauss; Cultural Counsellor and Deputy Head of Public Affairs, Embassy of Canada. Sharon Memis, Director of the British Council United States, moderated the lively discussion on a wide range of issues and a reflection on why the Aspen Cultural Diplomacy Forum needed to concentrate on both policy debates and concrete actions.

This roundtable was the second convening of the Aspen Public Diplomacy Roundtable Series launched in December 2007 in partnership with the British Council, featuring Martin Davidson, the new CEO of the British Council, and Ambassador Hussein Hassouna of the League of the Arab States. That first roundtable of December 11, 2007, was attended by thirty six experts from politics, media, arts, culture, business and academia who discussed the reasons why culture is vitally important in international relations; what it will take to persuade governments, the business world, and the civil society to invest in public and cultural diplomacy; and the challenges of assessing and measuring success in international cultural cooperation.