From the Executive Director
kolumnit
The Fulbright Center’s academic exchange programs place a strong emphasis on the promotion of mutual understanding. While supporting our grantees in pursuit of their specific study and research goals, our programs also aim to foster crosscultural personal interactions and transnational collaborative experiences that support global awareness, academic freedom, and intellectual integrity. This issue of the Fulbright Center News has an overriding theme linking many of the articles in an exploration of intercultural communication and understanding. Our grantees and alumni have generously provided personal experiences that highlight their crosscultural encounters, what they perceived to be unusual or unexpected, and how they have reacted. We appreciated receiving an abundance of stories from our grantees for this issue. I am pleased to share with you that you may find even more stories on our website www.fulbright.fi. In this issue we also want to draw your attention to the Finnish higher education institutions and recognize their continuous commitment to our joint programs. A record number of Finnish HEIs are participating this year in the cost-share program funding Finnish Fulbright students and scholars to the U.S. (page 5). Furthermore, the cooperation and cost-sharing from Finnish institutions has allowed us to award a record number of grants to U.S. students and scholars for 2008–2009 (p. 6). The Center constantly seeks to find new ways to be of service to the higher education community in Finland and to further enhance and expand Finnish-American exchanges – the February Study Tour is a recent example (p. 12). We greatly value cooperation with all our partners and look forward to another successful year working together. I hope you enjoy reading this spring issue of the Fulbright Center News!
Terhi Mölsä
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www.fulbright.fi
Public diplomacy, Finland and the U.S.A. Public diplomacy has become the buzz word in the context of international relations management. It refers to governmental exercise of influence abroad with a view to fostering civil society’s understanding of the government’s goals and interests by means of culture, science and art. Recently, public diplomacy has become increasingly important. It is clear that neither brute force nor traditional diplomacy alone meets the requirements of situations where the key to the problem lies in intercultural dialogue and enhancement of understanding. In the 21st century, countries want to make themselves known, to establish a profile and a brand, and to distinguish themselves from others in a positive manner. This is particularly important for small countries, such as Finland, whose geographical area or economic or cultural influence are not sufficiently powerful on their own to attract the interest of audiences abroad. An early example of effective public diplomacy was Finland’s decision to pay back the loans that the U.S.A. had granted after the First World War. This action was not only in keeping with Finnish values but also an informed decision, part of our image building. Finland made use of this image capital also long after the wars by inviting more foreign journalists to visit the country and to learn about its people and policy than any other Western European country. The idea was to underline Finland’s strong commitment to the western value community, democracy, and the rule of law, and Finland’s desire to maintain warm relations with the U.S. During recent years, Finland has featured in the European media as a model country of social innovations. Finland would like to be known also in the U.S. for being the most competitive, and at the same time, the least corrupt economy of the world – and also for achieving high educational standards across the board. Finland wants to be known as a country where everyone finds it easy and safe to live and study. For decades, Finns have been enjoying the opportunity to spend lengthy periods of time in the U.S. Nearly every high-school student born in the 1950s or 1960s considered the possibility of a year in the States as an exchange student. In Finnish academia, a Fulbright scholarship is a self-evident part of the career of researchers and specialists. As much as 80 % of the funding for the Finnish-American Fulbright program comes from Finland. The Finland-America Educa-
tional Trust Fund plays a key role in this action. Half of the Finnish share of the funding is financed by the Trust Fund and the rest is obtained from private funds, Finnish universities, and the Finnish Government. It is good to recall how the Trust Fund received its capital. When Finland made the final loan repayment with interest in 1976, the U.S. government then placed the full amount in a newly created Trust Fund. The fund capital has been carefully managed and has accumulated over the years while the yield capital has enabled the operation of the Fulbright Center. The Trust Fund is comprised of representatives from both the Finnish Ministries of Education and of Foreign Affairs as well as the U.S. Embassy in Finland. The Fund’s Board is chaired by the Director General of the Finnish Foreign Ministry’s Department for Communication and Culture, the office in charge of Finnish public diplomacy. The Fulbright program has become an important and valued part of the relations between our countries. Thousands of students and scholars have developed and shared their knowledge and know-how in a new environment. While it is easy enough to read books and watch films about Finland and the U.S.A., enhancing our knowledge and understanding of each other, it is really only by visiting and communicating directly with people from the other country that a true and valid impression can be formed. Every Finnish student and scholar who travels to the U.S. is also an ambassador of Finnish culture and way of life. And Americans coming to Finland likewise have this opportunity to share their customs and values with their Finnish colleagues and friends. The Fulbright program is a central part and one of the most appreciated elements of public diplomacy of Finland and the U.S.
Petri Tuomi-Nikula Director General Department for Communication and Culture, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland Chair of the Finland-America Educational Trust Fund