ENPower and cultural diplomacy are often seen by scholars, political leaders and diplomats as two very important and controversial issues in the sphere of contemporary international relations. It is important to understand that cultural heritage and diplomatic measures not only provide new possibilities to develop forms of power, but also serve as instruments to build up mutual understanding between different societies. The main objective of this article is twofold: to provide a detailed analysis of the evolution of the concept of cultural diplomacy in order to reveal its complexity and examine in what ways cultural diplomacy contributes to frequent power fluctuations as far as contemporary international relations are concerned.