ABSTRACT At a time when cultural knowledge and understanding lie at the heart of every foreign policy challenge (and of many economic ones), and the Internet and the global economy have flattened the world to such a degree that young people everywhere need to become global citizens to succeed, the United States, effectively, conducts cultural diplomacy with the equivalent of one hand tied behind its back. Without a coherent strategy, interagency and public-private coordination, and increased funding from public and private sources, the potential of the world's most influential commercial creative sector and the most vibrant and varied independent arts sector to impact how the world views the U.S. and how Americans view the world, will never be realized. There is no need to reinvent the wheel, or for government to create content. Hundreds of effective programs—ranging from a dance and music academy that unites dif-ferent factions in Iraq (American Voices) to arts management programs at the Kennedy Center, to film workshops (Sundance Institute) and schools (Red Sea Institute of Cinematic Arts Jordan), to a myriad of international performing arts festivals—have been developed despite limited budgets and infrastructure. But their impact could be so much greater. The lack of a coherent, public-private, interagency strategy for cultural exchange and cultural diplomacy, symptomatic of a general marginalization of arts, culture, and media by policymakers and the philanthropic community, limits the potential of existing programs. It may be that in order for cultural diplomacy to thrive, it should be housed in an organization indirectly linked to the State Department but operating at an arm's length (as is the case with the British Council). If fully funded, and part of an interagency, public-private coordinated strategy, such an entity might be able to demonstrate to the world that the U.S. understands that “civilizations don't clash, they interact,” and that it is important that we facilitate these interactions (September 20, 1785).