Geopolitical Implications of Educational Diplomacy: The Fulbright Program, 1958–2023

Abstract

This article combines archival research and critical discourse analysis to examine 33 evaluation and report documents that evaluate the effectiveness of the Fulbright Program from 1958–2023. Specifically, the study employs argumentation analysis to understand the underlying ideological strategies used to discursively construct the Fulbright Program's multiple purposes. The study finds that the documents argue that education and mutual understanding are ephemeral concepts, the Fulbright Program has geopolitical justifications, and academic disciplines are a source of geopolitical power. This approach to analyzing the Fulbright Program's historical documents provides a model for understanding educational diplomacy schemes that use higher education as a geopolitical tool.