France as a power has influence, one of the few countries significant in world affairs. This derives from membership of the Security Council, economic and military strength, a diplomatic network, avowed universal principles, a willingness to argue beyond the country’s own interests, and the language. Philippe Lane’s book explores critical components of this influence in culture, the arts, academia and science.

This influence has global competition. All countries, both established and emerging powers, appreciate the strategic nature of culture, science and education for their development. From an economic perspective, these elements have their attraction: politically, they are means to exert...

France and the United Kingdom are two countries with great histories; histories that include a high degree of mutual admiration and collaboration as well as the odd occasion in the past when the concepts of neighbourliness and friendship may not have been as high on our shared agendas as they fortunately are today.

Our shared histories bring many similarities to our shared present. Both countries have exercised considerable power and influence over the development of what has become the current world order; and both find ourselves less influential than we have been in the past. We are relatively small countries,...

There is more to the influence of a country than the strength of its economy, its strategic and military power and its place in the world institutions of governance. One must also consider how seductive are its ideas, its knowledge and its culture, and their relationship with the other factors of power.

Some would argue strongly that France is now in decline, with a weakening of its influence abroad. Such debates are often heated and sharply contested. The reality is more complex. The international influence of France is not in accord with its economic or demographic weight. Of course, new...

French cultural and scientific initiatives are very topical, judging by the number of parliamentary reports and studies, as well as recent announcements by government on their organization and future.

During the last decade or so, several parliamentary reports have highlighted the themes of French cultural and scientific influence, from Patrick Bloche,Le désir de France: la présence internationale de la France et la francophonie dans la société de l’information: rapport au Premier ministre(1999)¹ to François Rochebloine and Geneviève Colot,Rapport d’information sur ‘le rayonnement de la France par l’enseignement et la culture’ (2010).²

In addition, there have been a...

French cultural diplomacy can trace its roots to theAncien Régime,¹ since which time the links between literature and diplomacy have been extremely strong. From the sixteenth century to the eighteenth century, as Jean-François de Raymond points out in his bookL’action culturelle extérieure de la France(2000), many diplomats were also men of letters.²

Joachim du Bellay, famed for his collection of poems entitledRegretsand hisDéfense et illustration de la langue française, travelled to Rome in 1553 as secretary and steward to his powerful cousin Cardinal Jean du Bellay, who was attached to the Vatican. Thus the...

Cultural and scientific diplomacy is currently topical. When Barack Obama was elected President of the United States in 2008, initial comments, followed by the primary political decisions (notably in the domain of scientific diplomacy) presaged the return of what is termedsoft power, a peaceful means of influence, as opposed tohard power, a more coercive approach which can include use of military force.¹ It was during 2008 and 2009 that the expression ‘diplomacy of influence’ appeared in France to characterize the country’s cultural and scientific efforts abroad. This was what was required of Japan in its 1947 constitution, which...

In the autumn of 2010, two new initiatives were significant. First, a more coherent and comprehensive organization came into being. This new agency,Cultures France,¹ was to rely on the support of the 145 Cultural Institutes and Centres abroad, gaining enhanced functions due to their merging with the cultural services of the embassies, which would be its foothold and use the same name –Insitut français. French cultural diplomacy would thus advance in the world under one name, one brand – essential in an age of globalization. The agency, in Paris and at centres around the world, was to maintain...

Cultural assets and services enjoy values which cannot be reduced to a mere economic figure. In this area, the commitment of France is one of mutual cultural exchange between countries, acknowledging the European dimension of these partnerships, and a declaration of solidarity between cultures.

The cultural network abroad and theInstitut françaiscultural agency both aim at reinforcing the circulation of ideas and works, at encouraging mutual knowledge and understanding, through projects based on common commitments: it is then a question of harnessing French cultural and intellectual creativity with all partner countries by promoting the cultural and audiovisual industries, as...

Research and innovation have played an essential role in the post-war reconstruction of France in areas such as transport, infrastructure, nuclear energy, space exploration and aeronautics.¹ Research and innovation are also the best guarantees for French expertise abroad and offer the greatest potential for science and university cooperation.

Research and innovation are here considered as searches for solutions to current global problems, such as the state of the environment and the consequences of climate change and the ageing and explosion of world populations. To this end, digital technologies and nanotechnologies are the great opportunities of the twenty-first century.²

It was...

French language policies form one of the foundations of French foreign cultural initiatives. The development of cultural and scientific exchanges goes hand in hand with the promotion of the French language, an essential component of the policy of influence around the world.

TheObservatoire de la langue française of the Organisation internationale de la francophonie(OIF) publishes an annual report on the situation of French and its evolution in the world.¹ This report attempts to estimate the number of French speakers, the teaching of French through the medium of the French language, and the international dimension of the language. It...

The foreign cultural and scientific initiatives of France rely on a network ofInstituts françaisandAlliances françaises, research centres and cultural centres, constituting, with all the French schools andlycéesabroad, an unmatched network.

In this chapter, we shall restate and examine the annual French draft diplomatic programme for culture and influence abroad – Programmes 185 and 209. Christian Masset,directeur général de la mondialisation, du développement et des partenariats, has stated that ‘reform of the network for cooperation initiated with the general review of public policies (RGPP) will be shaped over the years from 2011 to 2013’.¹ Thus...

Between the Juppé and Schweitzer White Paper reasserting the necessity for a global cultural and scientific network¹ and the general review of public policies implying a reduction of activity, the cultural and scientific initiatives of France must be undertaken in a context of declining staff numbers and dwindling state finance.

France has set up a classification of its embassies, scheduled to have been finalized by the end of 2011. The premier category is ‘embassies with extended roles’, with a remit to cover the whole range of diplomatic activities, such as defence, culture, economy, security and sounding political alerts; a second...