Lecture | Book Launch
U.S. Cultural Diplomacy from the End of the Cold War to Trump 2.0
- Date
- Tuesday 12 May 2026
- Time
- Location
-
Herta Mohr
Witte Singel 27A
2311 BG Leiden - Room
- 0.20
Cultural diplomacy - the use of aspects of American culture to advance foreign policy goals - has been a component of U.S. statecraft for hundreds of years. But since the end of the Cold War, U.S. cultural diplomacy is often said to have lacked a master narrative or central purpose. Neither the War on Terror nor the identification of China as a "peer competitor" has provided an enduring one. During this period, U.S. cultural diplomacy has alternatively flourished and been assailed. It has taken on exciting new forms focused on emancipatory themes and at other times been attacked and undermined by radical rhetoric from the Oval Office itself. At the same time, new questions have arisen about the appeal of American culture to various audiences around the world.
Understanding these developments involves exploring the bureaucratic processes, domestic political struggles over identity and meaning, and geopolitical contexts that have shaped U.S. cultural diplomacy between the end of the Cold War and Trump’s second term. A recent book co-edited by Prof. dr. Giles Scott-Smith and contributed to by Dr. Andrew Gawthorpe provides an overview of U.S. cultural diplomacy during this period and explores these questions.