Designing cultural diplomacy policy: structuring a flagship mechanism

Cultural diplomacy (CD) research has focused on various elements of practice, such as the contexts, rationales, players, and methods. However, research explaining the interrelationships among such elements of CD is less common. This scarcity can inhibit an effective and accurate evaluation of CD programs. This article, by acknowledging the significance of this gap and being informed by policy design theory and foreign policy analysis (FPA), constructs a framework to articulate a policy design approach by focusing on comparative cases of flagship mechanisms of CD. It specifically considers flagships characterized by having a persistent presence, formal authorization, and global scope, which represents a structural approach to CD design that is aiming for a holistic view that addresses multiple purposes and is capable of adapting to particular international environments. To explain how this structural mechanism works, this article focuses on the practices of the United States, the United Kingdom, and China as they provide rich empirical data and concrete international and domestic contexts that can be used to interpret and apply the policy design and FPA concepts presented in the analytical framework. The conclusions point to the value of the interdisciplinary analytical concepts blended and potential transferability of the flagship mechanism.