Berge presents an analysis of how aesthetics are interpreted and operationalized within foreign policy. Empirically departing from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ engagement, it explores how art and artists are seen as a resource in the promotion of Norwegian interests of both general and specific character, within and outside of domestic borders. In the chapter, taking discourse studies as his point of departure, Berge critically discusses how the arts’ representational role is construed and maintained, by both the arts and foreign policy authorities. ‘Culture and art in Foreign Policy’ concludes that such constructional work serves several aims, both economic, social and political, not least contribute to a narration of Norway as a culture-nation.
