As defined by Ian Manners in his seminal work on “Normative Power Europe” (NPE), “cultural filters” refer to “the interplay between the construction of knowledge and the creation of social and political identity by the subjects of norm diffusion” (Manners, 2002: 245). Manners’ work was informed by an earlier study by Catarina Kinnvall who argued that a “cultural filter” affects the impact of international norms and political learning in third states and organizations leading to learning, adaptation or rejection of norms (Kinnvall, 1995: 61–71). The notion of “cultural filters” has been particularly challenging for scholars of international relations since it defies a deeply-rooted conception of foreign policy in academic circles. The proposed paper discusses the role of “cultural filters” in the conceptualization of NPE mechanisms. The paper seeks to explain the significance of cultural filters in the study of perceptions and examines the effect of such a filter on perceptions and images of the European Union (EU) in the main Israeli civic studies textbook. Analyzing the frames of NPE in Israeli civic education, the paper argues that foreign policy researchers and EU Studies scholars should not underestimate the role of local cultural and ideological forces in the daily conduct of international affairs. Indeed, cultural filters must occupy a prominent place in the NPE’s diffusion model.
