According to Schmachtel who has been nominated as the cluster President for its first year, “EUNIC was formed in 2006 and has a reputation as Europe’s leading cultural relations practitioner to create lasting partnerships between professionals and to forge greater understanding and awareness of various European culture and to encourage language study.

The founding members are the Alliance Française, the British Council and the Goethe-Institut....creating effective partnerships and networks among them in order to improve and promote cultural diversity and understanding between European societies and to strengthen international dialogue and cultural cooperation with Nigeria.

The statue is the most visible part of an exhibition put on by the British Council, a cultural-exchange outfit, commemorating the 50th anniversary of Gagarin’s flight. The exhibition is modest, filling a room in the Council’s offices with artefacts, pictures and documents from the Soviet space programme.

The term “citizen diplomacy” includes an imperative distinction in that it inherently denotes the use of sensitivity and tact in interactions with others to be considered a good “diplomat,” versus simply being a “citizen,” where the only requirement is a birthright.

This is a joint project between the Kosovo and British Governments, which will be implemented by the British Council to improve the process of Kosovo’s recognition by countries which have still not taken such a decision.

As part of an ongoing initiative by the British Council to explore how people all over the world can live peacefully amidst growing diversity- the Middle East's first Belief in Dialogue conference will focus on the convergence of science, culture and faith and will engage participants in a meaningful way about how these distinct yet linked forces are shaping the future of the region.

There has been a renewed focus on soft power, especially after the global publicity garnered by the British royal wedding in April. "We've got an extremely active British Council here," Mr Warrington said. "There are over 50 schools teaching the British syllabus. They're all taking British exams. There are more British universities than any other universities.

To this end so-called “soft power” – the ability to win the battle of ideas not just the war – will become increasingly crucial. Unfortunately the Government is making cuts to institutions such as the BBC World Service and the British Council, which are key assets in our soft power capability.