Foreign Cultural Policy of the European Union: Formation of a Single Cultural Space

In the modern constantly changing world, no doubt, the role and importance of culture will grow steadily. Culture becomes a unifying space for the interaction of various actors of international relations. Since with the advent of the concept of soft power, traditional methods of power influence in the international arena began to fade into the background. The significance and value of international cultural relations is recognized not only by individual states but also by single integration associations such as the European Union. Still, however, there is a conceptual instability of the terms of “foreign cultural policy,” “cultural diplomacy,” and “public diplomacy.” In this regard, the paper presents the definitions of these phenomena, based on the ideas of the author. This article focuses on studying the phenomenon of culture in international relations in general through intercultural communication and intercultural exchange. The aim of the article is to consider the foreign cultural policy of the European Union as a conceptually new factor of international influence, different from economic power and traditional political advantages. In addition, the process of conceptualization of the foreign cultural policy is considered. This work proposes to trace the stages of the organization of the common cultural space of the European Union and present the principles and some projects of the foreign cultural policy of this integration association.