Clinton Promotes Culture as a Tool of Diplomacy

Pingpong diplomacy in 1971 smoothed U.S. relations with China. When the United States reached out to a new democratic South Africa, performers from the Dance Theater of Harlem helped forge diplomacy. As the Cold War thawed, pianist Vladimir Horowitz returned to his native Russia in 1986 to give concerts.

Culture speaks a universal language and can play a critical role in U.S. relations abroad even where America has no formal diplomatic relations, President Clinton said Tuesday at the first White House Conference on Culture and Diplomacy.

“Cultural diplomacy does have the power to penetrate our common humanity,” Clinton said.

Glen Miller and other American jazz bands had a positive effect on the morale of U.S. allies during World War II, he said. And singer Elvis Presley did more to win the Cold War when his music was smuggled into the former Soviet Union than he did as a GI serving in Germany, the president added.

Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who wore a Navajo bolo--a symbol of America’s early heritage--were joined in the East Room by about 160 authors, artists, diplomats, actors and actresses, poets, business leaders and foundation directors from the United States and abroad. They talked about the role culture plays in foreign policy and how cultural exchange programs can improve relations among different peoples.

Joining Clinton and Albright on a morning panel were: Aga Khan, 49th hereditary imam of the Ismaili Muslim community, which has a following of more than 12 million worldwide; Rita Dove, former U.S. poet laureate; cellist Yo-Yo Ma; Giovanna Melandri, Italy’s minister for cultural heritage; Nobel Prize-winning novelist Wole Soyinka from Nigeria; and Joan Spero, president of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation in New York and former ambassador to the United Nations for economic and social affairs.

Clinton dismissed the argument that Western culture has become too pervasive--that soon every child will speak American English and every television will be tuned to MTV. Globalization should not be feared, he said. It should not blur cultural lines, but highlight them in a way to promote peace, Clinton said.

That, he said, would “put a real roadblock in the path of those who would like the 21st century dominated by cultural wars, not cultural celebrations.”

Less than 1% of the federal budget is appropriated for foreign affairs, the White House said. Within that fraction, there has been a 15-year decline in support for State Department cultural programs. Clinton said he backs legislation before Congress that would set up a fund or endowment to support State Department’s cultural exchange programs.