The main argument of my dissertation is as follows. Museums are sites that facilitate cultural exchange and in turn provide opportunity for cultural diplomacy as a form of soft power. Whereas historically museums have been used to articulate national politics and ideas of national identity – cultural exchange as seen on a greater scale in recent years is an excellent tool for building both diplomatic relations between nation states and fostering the understanding of other cultures amongst the population. For this reason, we must continue to look for opportunities to engage in such exchange, especially in a political culture in which select nation states wish to redefine their sovereignty in the face of globalization. The essay is structured in 6 main chapters, excluding the introduction and concluding remarks. These are 1) The Museum and National Identity 2) Museums in a Globalising World 3) Cultural Diplomacy and Soft Power 4) Evaluating Cultural Exchange – 4 Case Studies 5) Evaluating Corporate Sponsorship of museums 6) Outlook on the future. Primary literature being used derives mostly from museum websites, exhibition briefs and reviews, and Communiques. Secondary literature ranges from Museum Theory to articles on identity politics as well as art history. Research so far has generally been quite broad and shallow, in order to formulate the essay and glean a sense of direction before further reading is undertaken. In this sense I have researched a little into each chapter. Foreseeable problems including finding relevant secondary literature on the museums and exhibitions that I am keen to look at, and making the chapter concerning corporate sponsorship fit neatly into the essay.