British European University Interchange Policy (1945–1956)

International audience ; This chapter discusses the role played by university interchange schemes in British cultural diplomacy after World War Two, as conceived and implemented by both government bodies and non-state actors. It focuses, in particular, on the development of the Foreign Universities Interchange Scheme (FUIS) within the framework of Ernest Bevin’s plans for Western Union in the early Cold War. The scheme initially contributed to the construction of a West European bloc while also allowing universities to reinitiate and extend academic cooperation with its neighbors. Although its scope was largely determined by an anti-Communist strategy that sought to appropriate the notion of European civilization, it was equally concerned with mutual understanding between nations and the construction of a European identity, particularly for its participants.