icd began in April of 1999 as a small idea which emerged through the conversation of four individuals: Pierre Buhler (former head of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in NYC, and diplomatic advisor to the French Defense Minister), Prof. Dr. Robert Paxton (Columbia University), Prof. Dr....
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icd began in April of 1999 as a small idea which emerged through the conversation of four individuals: Pierre Buhler (former head of the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in NYC, and diplomatic advisor to the French Defense Minister), Prof. Dr. Robert Paxton (Columbia University), Prof. Dr. Thierry de Montbrial (director of institut français des relations internationales), and Mark C. Donfried (founder and director of icd).

Having noticed the large gap in the international discourse in the realm of cultural matters, icd was the proposed vehicle for initiating a more sustained dialogue between countries and, most importantly, between cultures. The interest in the name "cultural diplomacy" is due to the diplomatic effects that informal cultural exchange has initiated in the past, rather than the just official form of State-sponsored "cultural diplomacy."

The philosophy is that through such dialogue, better understanding can be achieved between countries and cultures, which is essential to avoid political, economic, and cultural clashes and necessary to effectively achieve better cooperation at all levels. Even though the government forms of "cultural diplomacy" play an important role in our analysis, icd's primary interest is in the informal cultural networks and exchanges that have characterized the twentieth century together with new forms that can be fashioned for the twenty-first.
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