The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nations, its primary duties are advising the U.S. president on international relations, administering diplomatic missions, negotiating international treaties and agreements, protecting citizens abroad and representing the U.S. at the United Nations. The department is headquartered in the Harry S Truman Building, a few blocks from the White House, in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C.; "Foggy Bottom" is thus sometimes used as a metonym.
The United States Information Agency (USIA) was a United States government agency devoted to propaganda which operated from 1953 to 1999.
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of the United States and other countries through the exchange of persons, knowledge, and skills. Via the program, competitively-selected American citizens including students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists, and artists may receive scholarships or grants to study, conduct research, teach, or exercise their talents abroad; and citizens of other countries may qualify to do the same in the United States.
James William Fulbright was an American politician, academic, and statesman who represented Arkansas in the United States Senate from 1945 until his resignation in 1974. As of 2023, Fulbright is the longest-serving chairman in the history of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best known for his strong multilateralist positions on international issues, opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War, and the creation of the international fellowship program bearing his name, the Fulbright Program.
Goli Ameri is an Iranian-American businesswoman and former U.S. diplomat. She is the co-founder of StartItUp, a mobile technology platform that provides resources to aspiring entrepreneurs. She formerly served as Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Values and Diplomacy for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs. Ameri ran for the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican in 2004, and is a former U.S. Representative to the United Nations. She serves on the board of trustees of Freedom House, as well as on the Center for Middle East Public Policy advisory board of the RAND Corporation, a group of public and private sector leaders that provide guidance and support for RAND's Middle East research.
The U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948, popularly called the Smith–Mundt Act, was first introduced by Congressman Karl E. Mundt (R-SD) in January 1945 in the 79th Congress. It was subsequently passed by the 80th Congress and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman on January 27, 1948.
For over 60 years, the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) has helped administer the Fulbright Scholar Program, the U.S. government's flagship academic exchange effort, on behalf of the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Founded in 1947, CIES is a private organization with a staff of around 60 people supplemented by 300 voluntary peer reviewers, primarily academics. CIES is a division of the Institute of International Education (IIE).
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the United States Department of State fosters mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries around the world. It is responsible for the United States' cultural exchange programs.
Lucius Durham Battle was a career Foreign Service officer who served with distinction in Washington, Europe and Southwest Asia.
EducationUSA is a US Department of State network of international student advising centers in more than 170 countries. Officially a branch of the Office of Global Educational Programs, a part of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), the ECA fosters mutual understanding between the United States and other countries by promoting personal, professional, and institutional ties between private citizens and organizations in the United States and abroad, as well as by presenting U.S. history, society, art and culture to overseas audiences.
The US-UK Fulbright Commission is a non-profit organization with the purpose of "promoting cultural understanding between the US and UK" primarily through academic grants. It was created by a treaty signed by both countries on 22 September 1948 and is based in London.
The Fulbright–Hays Act of 1961 is officially known as the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961. It was marshalled by United States Senator J. William Fulbright (D-AR) and passed by the 87th United States Congress on September 16, 1961, the same month the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and Peace Corps Act of 1961 were enacted.
The International Relations Council (IRC) is a non-profit non-partisan educational organization in Kansas City, Missouri, and a member of the World Affairs Councils of America. As an educational nonprofit, the IRC works in partnership with a range of businesses, universities, community organizations, K-12 schools, and other interested individuals to grow a global perspective and find international connections within the Greater Kansas City metropolitan area. The IRC works to foster interest in an understanding of international affairs among the citizens of Kansas City through the development of various programs and events. As a membership organization, the IRC welcomes individuals and families, businesses, universities, and other organizations to join as IRC members in order to help sustain global-affairs education in the Kansas City community and receive various benefits.
William Banks Bader was an American diplomat who served as the assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs from 1999 to 2001.
United States cultural exchange programs, particularly those programs with ties to the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the United States Department of State, seek to develop cultural understanding between United States citizens and citizens of other countries. Exchange programs do not necessarily exchange one individual for another individual of another country; rather, "exchange" refers to the exchange of cultural understanding created when an individual goes to another country. These programs can be regarded as a form of cultural diplomacy within the spectrum of public diplomacy.
The U.S.- Italy Fulbright Commission is a bi-national, non-profit organization promoting opportunities for study, research, and teaching in Italy and the United States through competitive, merit-based grants. Since 1948, the commission acts as executor of the Fulbright Program to and from Italy.
Paul Winfree was Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic policy, Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council, and Director of Budget Policy in the Trump administration. He was also formerly the distinguished fellow in economic policy and public leadership at The Heritage Foundation. In addition, he was director of the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies and the Richard F. Aster Fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Winfree was Chair of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board from 2020 until 2022.
Fulbright Act of 1946, 50a U.S.C. § 1619, is a United States statute commissioning the United States Department of State as a disposal agency for the disposal of materials on public lands and the reclamation of salvageable military surplus assets pending the aftermath of World War II. The Act of Congress was an amendment to the Surplus Property Act of 1944 implementing section 1619 entitled designation of disposal agencies.
Finnish Educational Exchange Act of 1949 is a United States statute supporting an accord for war reparations acquired by the Republic of Finland during the Finnish Civil War and World War I. The Act of Congress authorized the collection of future reparation payments by Finland to be reserved in a depository institution or special deposit account administered by the United States Department of the Treasury. The financial endowment was to be available and governed by the United States Department of State. The Finland academic exchange endowment procured financing for the furtherance of academic instruction and studies, educational activities, and technical training as a collaborative pursuit by Republic of Finland and the United States.
