ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 places international museum activities within the current diplomacy literature. It applies a framework of non-state diplomacy and non-state legitimacy to the context of museums. It also establishes strong boundaries between cultural diplomacy and a wide range of terms that are frequently invoked in discussions about museum diplomacy, including cultural relations, nation branding and soft power. The chapter expands the framework of museum diplomacy by integrating the concept of institutional soft power to explain cases in which diplomacy draws primarily on museum leadership, as opposed to governmental initiatives. The main goal of the chapter is to develop an analytical framework of museum diplomacy, with clearly defined characteristics and principles of operation, to further guide the analysis of case studies.
