French Diplomacy of Influence and the case of Louvre-Abu Dhabi Museum

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the political and economic effects as well as cultural and diplomatic attributes of the establishment of an overseas branch of Louvre Museum, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. If the role of the museum as an actor of cultural diplomacy was previously only to exchange works with foreign museums, from the mid 2000s, it played a much more active role through the internationalization of museums. In the case of France, the rise of museum diplomacy coincides with the full-fledged beginning of Diplomacy of Influence(diplomatie d'influence), a French public diplomacy, which shows that French cultural diplomacy has shifted from the previous defensive method to the offensive use of its cultural assets. With a entrepreneurial approach, France revises its strategy to use cultural brands as tools to spread their cultural rayonnement. The mid 2000s was a time when France's status in the United Arab Emirates was overturned by the United States. At a time when France's influence in the United Arab Emirates declined, France was able to strengthen cooperation in Abu Dhabi's aviation and defense fields through the Louvre-Abu Dhabi bilateral cultural cooperation, and further laid the foundation for promoting bilateral political cooperation.