Kevin V. Mulcahy

American educational and cultural policy abroad has been described as the "neglected aspect" of this country's relations with the rest of the world. When Charles Frankel (soon to be Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs) made this observation in 1965, he was concerned with clarifying the objectives of government-supported cultural exchanges. He believed that American efforts in this field had been among the most successful of our diplomatic activities and that these cultural programs were "presumably planned with central objectives of national policy in mind." ¹ But the question that Professor Frankel asked fifteen years ago still remains to be answered: "What are the objectives of governmentsponsored educational and cultural programs abroad?"

Cultural programs are usually listed along with political and economic relations as part of the politics among nations. But specific goals and the means by which these are to be achieved are too often lost in either vague talk of promoting international good-will or in tactical considerations of how to use cultural programs for immediate political profit. Cultural programs have also been caught up in a wider debate about what properly characterizes cultural diplomacy. Basically, educational and cultural exchanges are part of the normal interactions and discussions between nations as are trade, travel, and immigration. As such, cultural exchanges stand on their own and should foster better relations within the family of nations (although not necessarily support for a nation's foreign policy). What the exchange programs seek to facilitate is a better understanding of American society by exposing other nationals to the diversity of cultural activities found here. In this sense, cultural programs (faculty and student exchanges, performing arts productions, museum shows, book exhibits, lectures) should be distinguished from those activities designed to explain

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