Why are just America’s Cultural Institutes out of style? : "Why has the U.S. government become so allergic to displays of soft power abroad when the British, French, German, Spanish, and now even Chinese are hard at work maintaining, expanding – or yes, developing – their own cultural centers, libraries and language training institutes across the globe?

The U.S. used to be a master at the game. For years we taught hundreds of thousands of adults aged 16 on up to speak and read English. We also provided free access to the latest American magazines and books. We showed the best – although not necessarily the latest- American films and art works. We staged performances by American musicians, dancers, theater troupes and, in certain countries, mounted large, impressive exhibits of American life – exhibits that offered in the Soviet Union, for example, backdrops for and personal connections to young, vivacious American Russian speaking guides.

During the 1980s when the downsizing of the U.S. Information Agency began in earnest and in the 1990s when the reductions turned into a torrent falling on the Agency like an executioner’s blade, cultural centers, libraries and language programs were deemed too expensive."

(Via WhirledView.)