The British Council

According to their annual report the purpose of the British Council is to:

build mutually beneficial relationships between people in the UK and other countries and to increase appreciation of the UK’s creative ideas and achievements.

I’ve read much of the report and it certainly seems that the Council do an excellent and worthwhile job.

The British Council also recognises, through the publishing of work by Professor P. Taylor, Britain’s important roll as a bridge between the USA and the rest of the world:

The agonising in the United States after September 11th about ‘why they hate us so much’ would suggest a failure on the part of American cultural diplomacy. Considerable efforts are now – perhaps belatedly – being expended on convincing a global audience about the Americans ‘as a force for good in the world’.

Tony Blair described this as the ‘gulf of misunderstanding’ and it is obviously seen as important enough by the council to warrant pointing out Britain’s roll in helping to bridge this gulf and in helping to repair this suggested failure in American cultural diplomacy. Personally I do not believe that there has been a failure by the Americans but that there is a gulf, say between the USA and some countries in mainland Europe, I have no doubt.

Clearly proud of the United Kingdom, the council also recognises its diversity.

There is a web area specifically devoted to Scotland. On it they say:

The British Council enhances Scotland's international reputation and contributes to building an internationally-oriented, outward-looking Scotland.

Jolly good. Scotland has an international reputation to be proud of and it’s not inappropriate, I think, for the council to want to work towards enhancing Scotland’s reputation even further.

The council, in their magnanimity, also have web areas specifically devoted to Wales and Northern Ireland. Welsh wind farms, apparently, generate enough electricity to meet the needs of nearly 100,000 British homes. An encouraging thought for any global citizen worried about global warming I would think. The council in Northern Ireland share their unique experience in education, governance and arts with countries overseas through the creation of lasting mutual relationships worldwide. I have no doubt that the sharing of these experiences is appreciated and applauded and does indeed increase the appreciation of the UK’s creative ideas and achievements.

By providing this country and province specific web real estate, the British Council is quite rightly recognising those countries and provinces within the United Kingdom that have unique or compelling contributions to make to the rest of the world. Cultural diplomacy at work.

Posted by John at February 3, 2005 09:59 AM | TrackBack