Description of the Bureau of Educational and
Cultural Affairs (CU)
The Bureau’s mission is to facilitate international cooperation through a
variety of exchange activities. The legislative basis for CU’s role is the Fulbright–Hays Act of 1961. Congress has generally supported a
steadily growing CU budget; the FY 74 request is for $53 million. The staff
numbers 275, manning the Bureau itself and five foreign visitor
Reception Centers around the US.
Overseas planning and program proposals are initiated by our diplomatic
missions. In Washington, the CU staff,
in coordination with the regional bureaus, evaluates proposals and
allocates resources according to the importance of the country and the
expected benefits of the mission’s proposals. Interagency coordination
is accomplished through a subcommittee of the Under Secretaries
Committee.
Cultural presentations constitute a small part of the exchange program
under the Fulbright–Hays Act, and less than 2% of the
total CU budget. In FY 73, 21 performing arts attractions
received $720,000 in full or partial support from State. Cultural
presentation proposals are submitted by the field posts to State, which
in turn seeks advice and evaluation from private advisory panels.
Sponsorship of performing artist groups is concentrated in countries
which are largely closed to other types of exchange programming. Groups
going to the USSR under the Exchange
Agreement3 account for about 65% of
the cultural presentation program. The second area of emphasis is
Eastern Europe. State is also funding 50% of the cost of the
Philadelphia Orchestra’s trip to China.4
Other areas of the world are serviced only rarely by CU’s cultural presentation program.
Tab A
Paper Prepared in the Bureau of Educational and
Cultural Affairs5
BUREAU OF EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS (CU)
I. What CU
Does
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs administers the
principal provisions of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange
Act of 1961 (also known as the Fulbright–Hays Act). This provides broad permanent authority
to stimulate and facilitate international cooperation and mutual
understanding through a variety of governmental and non-governmental
international exchange activities. We seek through these programs
medium to long-term results which strengthen patterns of informal
communication in ways that can favorably influence the environment
in which U.S. foreign policy is conducted.
Legislative Base. Although official U.S.
Government exchange activities actually got underway in 1938 with
programs involving Latin America, the program is regarded as having
been officially inaugurated by the Fulbright Act of 1946, which authorized the use of
foreign currencies obtained under the Surplus Property Act of 1944
for academic exchanges. Subsequent legislation has considerably
broadened that authority. The Fulbright–Hays Act states the purposes in this way:
—to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United
States and the people of other countries by means of educational and
cultural exchange;
—to strengthen the ties which unite us with other nations by
demonstrating the educational and cultural interests, developments,
and achievements of the people of the United States and other
nations, and the contributions being made toward a peaceful and more
fruitful life for people throughout the world;
[Page 317]
—to promote international cooperation for educational and cultural
advancement;
—and thus to assist in the development of friendly, sympathetic, and
peaceful relations between the United States and the other countries
of the world.
Grants to Individuals. The heart of the
CU program has been the
provision of direct grants to permit outstanding people of other
nations to visit and study in the United States and to enable
outstanding Americans to go abroad. More than 148,000 people had
participated in the program through FY 1972. The grants have involved more than 130
countries (currently there are programs with 127). Former
participants include 18 who are currently Chiefs of State or Prime
Ministers (e.g., Willy
Brandt, Edward
Heath, Indira Gandhi, and Anwar Sadat) and 263 who are
Cabinet Ministers. During FY 1972,
there were 5,402 participants, 20 per cent of them Americans.
The academic part of the program—generally known as the “Fulbright Program”—provides
educational opportunities for students, teachers, professors and
research scholars, usually for periods of a year or more.
Participants are selected by the Presidentially-appointed Board of
Foreign Scholarships, currently headed by Prof. James Billington of
Princeton University. In 44 countries the programs are coordinated
by binational commissions, in others by Embassy staffs and host
government agencies. The interest of foreign governments in these
activities is indicated not only by their participation in the
binational commissions, but also by their contributions of more than
$2.7 million in FY 1973. In FY 1972, 60 per cent of the total
grants awarded by CU came under this
academic program.
Most of the other 40 per cent of people receiving grants from CU are known as “international
visitors.” These are outstanding leaders and potential leaders in
government, politics, journalism, education, trade unions, business
and other key fields. At the invitation of U.S. missions overseas,
and in coordination with the Department, these people come to the
U.S. for periods of 30–45 days to meet with professional colleagues
and to gain a better understanding of this country and its
people.
The Bureau also operates a small program of “cultural presentations,”
which enables outstanding American artists and athletes to perform
and meet counterparts in other nations. Most of our cultural
attractions are concentrated on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe,
where other forms of communication are relatively restricted. We
also employ a so-called “pick-up” technique to enable artists who
are already abroad under commercial auspices to extend their tours
to include other nations of special interest to the U.S.
Large numbers of Americans contribute to the implementation of these
grant programs. The scholarships made available by universities
[Page 318]
and the time and services
donated by professors, educational administrators and others, are of
inestimable value. The international visitor program could not
succeed without the voluntary services of more than 100,000 people
and 97 local-community organizations throughout the country,
handling well over a quarter million individual local visits each
year. This participation reflects an active interest in foreign
affairs by individuals who tend to be influential members of their
communities. This “constituency” is a domestic asset of great
importance to the Department.
Private Cooperation.
CU supports numerous private
organizations which conduct exchange programs. These include the
Asia Foundation, American Friends of the Middle East, the American
Field Service, and the National Association for Foreign Student
Affairs. The last-named is an organization through which we relate
to the 150,000 foreign students in the U.S. who are here under other
than USG-assisted programs.
In FY 1973, 103 private organizations
received nearly $5.5 million in support, representing 16 per cent of
the program funds available to the Bureau. This is a major shift in
emphasis from the beginning of this Administration, when only 8 per
cent of the program funds were spent in this way and only 36
agencies were involved.
The Bureau, without providing financial support, also seeks to
encourage broader private-sector participation in exchange programs.
The Conference Board of New York, for example, is attempting to
develop a clearinghouse mechanism to link private agencies
interested in exchanges with other private groups which have funds
available for this purpose. Another initiative is a current CU effort to stimulate American
universities to develop continuing ties with foreign alumni.
Interagency Coordination. A special NSC study in 1971 resulted in the
creation of a new mechanism to strengthen coordination of the 18
separate government agencies which have legislative authority for
some form of exchange activity.6 This new mechanism, a Subcommittee
of the Under Secretaries Committee, is seeking to establish a common
data base and trying to solve some of the most important
coordination problems. Subcommittee members are:
The Department of State (CU)
The Department of Health, Education and Welfare
The Department of Defense
The Agency for International Development
The Peace Corps (Action)
The National Science Foundation
[Page 319]
Budget. Since the beginning of this
Administration, the CU budget has
shown a steady increase, from $31.4 million in FY 1969 to the current request for $53
million in FY 1974. We have
recommended to the Department a $70 million budget for FY 1975.
This upward trend has been accomplished with strong support from the
top levels of the Department and the White House. Congressional
support for the budgetary increases during this period has always
been accompanied by expressions of confidence in CU management and program reforms.
Planning. The basic planning of CU activities is carried out at the
mission level. Each year, the Country Public Affairs Officers and
Cultural Affairs Officers prepare plans setting forth objectives and
describing the programs to be undertaken in pursuit of them.
Washington evaluation of these plans is carried out by CU in close coordination with the
regional bureaus. Allocations are based on the relative importance
of each country, judged in light of the potential which CU programs offer for strengthening
communications with that country. An effort is made to ensure that
all program activities are in accord with the overall CU Program Concept. This document
(attached) sets forth our basic objectives for utilization in
program management within the bureau.
As a result of improved planning, revitalized research and
evaluation, and closer coordination with the regional bureaus,
CU has a system which produces a
more effective allocation of resources and a greater responsiveness
to political developments. Thus, with the opening for better
relations with China, CU was able to
contribute $719,000 for exchanges with that country during FY 1973 and has tentatively budgeted $1
million for FY 1974. This
flexibility has also enabled CU to
expand programs with the USSR in
accordance with the new agreements, as well as to develop exchanges
in support of new foreign policy initiatives with several smaller
nations.
The achievements of these programs are usually most evident in a
long-term perspective. Over the years, we have found it advantageous
to minimize the involvement of CU
activities in transitory political issues. Among other benefits,
this has served to keep alive personal and institutional
relationships, even when official government ties have been broken.
It is through the entire complex of exchanges, and the
person-to-person relationships that flow from them, that CU programs have the capacity to
favorably influence the environment in which our foreign policy is
carried out.
East-West Center. Under a separate
appropriation, CU also supports the
East-West Center, a national educational institution located at the
University of Hawaii. The Center seeks to build better relations and
understanding between the U.S. and the nations of Asia and the
Pacific
[Page 320]
through
cooperative study, training and research. Students, professionals
and scholars from this country join with those from the nations of
Asia to work in such key areas as population, food, technology and
communications. The appropriation for the Center for FY 1973 is $6.8 million.
Staff. The Bureau operates with a staff of
about 275, all in the United States. This includes Reception Centers
for foreign visitors in five port cities. Many of the programs for
grants to individuals are developed by private agencies under
contract to the Department. The Institute of International
Education, for example, handles the screening, placement and liaison
with all student grantees, both American and foreign.
[Omitted here is an overview of CU–USIA relations,
both past and present.]
Attachment
Paper Prepared in the Bureau of Educational and
Cultural Affairs7
BUREAU OF EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS
THE CU PROGRAM
CONCEPT
Pursuant to the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961,
CU-sponsored programs are
designed to strengthen patterns of informal communication in ways
which will favorably influence the environment within which U.S.
foreign policy is carried out and help build the human foundations
of the “structure of peace.”
More concretely, these programs aim to increase mutual understanding
and cooperation between the American and other peoples by enlarging
the circle of those able to serve as influential interpreters
between this and other nations, by strengthening the institutions
abroad which affect comprehension of the United States, and by
improving channels for the exchange of ideas and information.
Toward these ends, CU:
1. Helps present and potential opinion leaders and decision makers to
gain through firsthand experience more accurate perceptions
[Page 321]
and a deeper understanding
of political, economic and cultural realities in each others’
societies.
2. Encourages a wide variety of institutions, including the mass and
specialized media, to strengthen their capacity to cultivate (a)
understanding of cultural, social and ideological differences and
(b) awareness of similarities and interdependencies.
3. Helps develop transnational linkages based on shared intellectual,
artistic, social, humanitarian, professional and economic
concerns.
4. Works to increase the quality and efficiency of inter-cultural
dialogue by various means including strengthening English as an
international language.
To gain the greatest return from available resources, CU follows these general principles in
deciding whether to undertake, facilitate or endorse particular
projects.
When possible:
They should be designed to achieve multiplier effects through such
means as stimulating and reinforcing other programs—private and
governmental—that contribute to similar goals;
They should be multi-purpose, not only contributing to an improved
communications environment, but furthering internationally shared
goals of other kinds as well;
They should engage the energies of influential or potentially
influential individuals of exceptional talent, achievement or
promise and offer them face-to-face cross-cultural experiences of
unusual quality;
They should reflect the two-way character of effective communication
by emphasizing mutuality in planning, participation and support, and
by responding to the reality that Americans are among those whose
myths and misconceptions impair understanding; and
They should take full advantage of American strengths such as
individual freedom, pluralism, openness and friendly hospitality in
addition to the many fields of special American competence.
