Cultural diplomacy torn between two ministries

To each his own style. In inaugurating the Ateliers de l'Institut français on July 18, a day devoted to France's foreign cultural policy, at the Parc Floral in Paris, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Culture came across as offensive for one, pragmatic for the other. Drawing up an alarming assessment of the state of the world, Jean-Noël Barrot harangued the audience of diplomats, cultural attachés and presidents of institutions as if he were addressing military personnel. " We are in the battle of narratives , " " we are entering into resistance together , " "culture is a weapon of deterrence," he hammered home, continuing the war metaphor.

More concretely, Rachida Dati urged the troops to have a "more realistic reading of the situation." Because "there is no longer any vested interest or exclusive partnership." "We must revisit our actions and our ways of doing things , ", acknowledges Eva Nguyen Binh, president of the French Institute. We are not here to procrastinate. We must be active and responsive in very short timeframes and at the request of our political authorities . "

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