All over the world, culture is being pushed to the sidelines. I am not referring here to commercialized, globalized culture produced purely for entertainment. By "culture," I mean the provision of culture as a public good, such as through foreign-language education, intellectual exchange or groundbreaking theater with little commercial appeal. Nonprofit organizations that engage in exchanges of culture in this sense of the word, such as Germany's Goethe Institute and the Japan Foundation, are having a very hard time.
These organizations conduct more activities abroad than in their home countries, and in this age of fiscal restraint and personnel cutbacks they are losing out on financial support from their governments back home. Is this an acceptable situation? Even while cuts are being made, both the Goethe Institute and the Japan Foundation are being told to focus on activities that contribute to the foreign policy of their respective countries. Cultural exchange is expected to function as an effective foreign-policy tool.
How should NPOs such as the Japan Foundation and the Goethe Institute deal with these challenges? Above all, NPOs involved in cultural exchange around the world need to highlight to the whole world the importance of their work by joining hands to tackle common tasks. To persuade people of the importance of their activities, however, they must start by demonstrating to the citizens of their respective countries that they are striving to make their activities as economical and efficient as possible.