INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGE PROGRAMS AS A MODALITY OF PUBLIC DIPLOMACY: AN IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS OF THE FULBRIGHT PAKISTAN PROGRAM

The objective of this study is to analyze the role educational exchange programs as a public diplomacy modality using the Fulbright Foreign Student Program Pakistan as a case study. This study investigates the ways in which the Fulbright Foreign Student program has been able to achieve its legislative goal pertaining to the US public diplomacy among scholarship recipients from Pakistan, in the post 9/11 context. Although the impact of exchange programs like the Fulbright program as a public diplomacy tool has been extensively studied, excessive reliance on anecdotal evidence render their findings abstract. Official evaluations of the Fulbright program are designed to gauge participant satisfaction with the program conditions. Rigorous analysis of participant perceptions about the host society and the state of host-home country relations remain largely understudied. This paper attempts to address this gap, probing the change in perceptions of the scholarship recipients from Pakistan vis-à-vis American society, its people and the US foreign policy. Through an online questionnaire adapted from the Pew Global Images database, current Pakistani Fulbright scholars, were surveyed. Data was analyzed using cross tabulation and frequency tables. The findings of the study indicate that Fulbright scholarship has been partially successful in attaining its legislative goal among the Pakistani recipients. A majority of participants reported an increased understanding and tolerance towards American people and society due to their Fulbright experience. However, their perceptions about the US foreign policy and the state of Pakistan-US relationship remain critical.