Culture is more than a book or a play. Culture opens doors and builds bridges to the peoples of the world. Emerging economic powers such as India, Brazil and South Korea have grasped the potential of culture in foreign relations and are already working on their external cultural policies. Europe’s history of democracy, tradition of human rights and practice of friendly co-existence means that it has a great deal to offer and it should be investing more heavily in cultural relations with the rest of the world. What initiatives are needed in the area of external cultural policy – and what does the world expect of them? 30 authors from 20 countries look for some answers.
FOREWORD
Escaping the mid-life crisis. By Sebastian Körber
CHAPTER 1: A GLOBAL CONVERSATION – THE OLD CONTINENT IN THE AGE OF THE WORLD WIDE WEB AND NEW GLOBAL PLAYERS
new cultural conversation is on the horizon. By Frédéric Martel
A cosmopolitan vision for the future. By Isabelle Schwarz
CHAPTER 2: MESSAGES FROM AROUND THE WORLD – EXPECTATIONS OF EUROPE’S EXTERNAL CULTURAL RELATIONS
Mediterranean
Energy and peace. By Claus Leggewie
The Tunisian tsunami and its aftermath. By Abdelwahab Hiba Hech
A yearning for emancipation. By Amis Ben Amor and Edmund Ratka
Seize the Spring. By Isabel Schäfer
Middle East
Seeds of rapprochement. By Azita Ebadi
Transcending the role of victim. By Yazid Anani
Africa
Taking the pulse of the continent. By Peter Kimani
A region in flux. By Farai Mpfunya
Hip-hop borderscapes. By Nannette Abrahams
A partnership of equals. By Georgina Thomson
Asia
The question mark that is democracy. By Yang Lian
Listening to the world. By Natalia Chaban
National identity versus post-modern scepticism. By Myra Beltran
“What is soft is strong”. By Gerhard Sabathil and Wen Wen Shen
Europe
On the EU train. By Slavenka Drakulić
Ukraine’s games with Europe. By Andrey Kurkov
“Russia is much better than you think”. By Valery Nechay
America
This spaceship called Earth. By Ladislau Dowbor
What does Latin America need? By Carlos Ornelas
Leading by example. By Bernd Reiter
To remember or to forget? By Roland Benedikter
CHAPTER 3: TAKING EUNIC TO THE WORLD – A ROADMAP FOR THE NETWORK
From conversation to ‘convers Asian’? By Katelijn Verstraete
Partnerships of equals in the century of the South. By Katharina von Ruckteschell-Katte
A practical test at the Cape. By Hanna Schühle
Opera Village Africa
EUNIC Annual Report. By Charles-Etienne Lagasse and Helena Kovarikova
