Series AC/52 - Committee on Information and Cultural Relations

The AC/52 chronological series contains the records of the Committee on Information and Cultural Relations.This committee was established on 8 July 1953 by the North Atlantic Council after the latter approved the merger of two working groups - the Working Group on Information Policy(1) and the Working Group on Social and Cultural Co-operation(2) into a single joint working group on cultural co-operation and information policy (C-R(53)34). Its terms of reference were approved on 2 September 1953 (C-R(53)40), at which time it was given the title of the Committee on Information and Cultural Relations (CICR). The CICR reported directly to the Council. It had two functions: information and cultural relations. The CICR worked on information issues with the Information Service, in particular providing its advice on the policy aspect of that Service's activities. On 12 April 1961, the Council approved the disbandment of the Working Group on Psychological Action (AC/186) (C-R(61)12) and decided to task the CICR with its work. A new paragraph was added to the Committee's terms of reference (AC/52-WP(61)28, dated 3 June 1961). The Committee was tasked to "serve as the usual forum for the discussion of day-to-day questions arising in the field of psychological action, as defined in the report of the Working Group on Psychological Action C-M(61)25".The CICR had a range of activities. It reported on Communist anti-Western propaganda in meetings, conferences, assemblies, publications, journals and radio broadcasts on the subject. It even set up an Ad Hoc Study Group on the Communist Offensive in the Youth Field (C-M(61)91 and AC/52-WP(63)2). Another CICR activity was a teaching and research fellowship programme, as well as a summer university course. Among other Committee activities worthy of note are the preparation of events marking NATO anniversaries, participation in conventions, contacts with various organizations such as the College of Europe, UNESCO and others, and studies on relations between the Atlantic Community and the Soviet bloc.This Committee is a standing committee which still operates today(3) .