In the new special issue of Contemporary European History, co-editors Benjamin Martin and Elisabeth Piller bring together a collection of cutting-edge research exploring this conundrum. The issue’s nine articles probe the relationship between Europe’s interwar crisis and the emergence of modern cultural diplomacy by exploring cases drawn from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Soviet Union and Sweden. Taken together, these allow us to see that interwar Europe was a laboratory for the testing of new ‘cultural’ tools in international politics – one that produced ideas and practices that have continued to shape diplomatic practice to this day. Read the full introduction here