British Council

The British Council "is the UK's public diplomacy and cultural organisation." They note that: "We work in 100 countries, in arts, education, governance, and science." 


 * "The British Council was founded as an organ of international propaganda. During the late 1920s an influential group of civil servants became convinced that ‘British’ values of parliamentary democracy could be subsumed by the rising tide of fascism. Their response was the British Committee for Relations with Other Countries, which became the British Council. Particular Council initiatives included the teaching of English, but political messages always came along with the language tuition...


 * "During the Cold War the British Council maintained its propaganda value and developed an important double function. It provided a point of contact with western ideas in the non-aligned world and, when thaws permitted, the Eastern Bloc.  More than this, the British Council provided a view of the West distinct from that presented by the United States and its equivalent operation: the United States Information Agency; building a sense of the diversity of western culture.


 * "There can be little doubt that the British Council facilitated the post-war emergence of English as an international language, or that its activities have aided the wider objectives of British foreign policy. The Council helped to ensure a cultural place for Britain in the modern world beyond that justified by its economic or political power: it has been a central organ of what the American scholar Joseph Nye Jr. has called ‘soft power.’  This said, however the Council has seldom attracted adequate resources or respect from policy makers, beside the occasional nod towards the Council being ‘good for trade’."

Counterpoint "is the cultural relations think-tank of the British Council."

Official Historian
"Philip M. Taylor is Professor of International Communications at the University of Leeds, UK. He was the first historian to be allowed into the archives of the British Council." 

Advisory Committees

 * Arts Advisory Committee: Baroness Lola Young (Chair), Caryl Phillips, David Brierley CBE, Richard Calvocoressi, Richard Lambert, Duncan Kenworthy OBE, Professor Susan Bassnett, Courtney Pine OBE, Alice Rawsthorn, Dr Tom Shakespeare, Angus Farquhar, Emyr Afan, Rita Duffy, Chris Powell.


 * Science Advisory Committee: Professor Sir Howard Newby (Chairman), Dr Alun Anderson, Professor Colin Blakemore, Professor Robert Boucher CBE, Dr Rita Gardener, Professor Wendy Hall, Professor Dame Julia Higgins, Professor Malcolm W. Horner, Dame Nancy J. Lane OBE, Professor Jon A. McCleverty, Professor P. G. McKenna, Professor John O'Reilly, Professor David Rhind, Professor Janet Sprent, Professor Stephen Tomlinson, Professor Robin Williams, Dr Lloyd Anderson.

Examples of Projects Funded

 * Betweem 2002 and 2003, working with UK Partners: OneWorld International and Kabissa and Local Partners, the West African NGO Network (WANGONET), the British Council worked to develop Nigerianet which "aims to provide an online information sharing and networking tool for rights groups and donor agencies in Nigeria."

Contact

 * Web: http://www.britishcouncil.org

Related Sourcewatch

 * David Green - former Director General (1999-2007)
 * Heather Rabbatts
 * Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe
 * Philip Goodwin
 * Andrew Cubie
 * Gerard Lemos - former chair
 * Martin Wakefield Jacomb - former chair (1992-8)
 * Patricia Hewitt - former vice chair