Cultural Expansionism

Cultural Expansion

Cultural expansionism is the practice of exporting a country’s culture, values and norms to other parts of the world in an effort to get others to see the appeal of that particular culture. A clear example of this occurred during the Cold War, when the US, and to a lesser extent the UK, made active pushes to promote their culture in the form of art, television, entertainment, clothes, food and other means to promote the Western way of life and thus combat the perceived threat of communism. These initiatives are usually taken by independent organizations but can be in collaboration with governments as part of their foreign policy strategy.