The Great American Mission traces how America's global modernization efforts during the twentieth century were a means to remake the world in its own image. David Ekbladh shows that the emerging concept of modernization combined existing development ideas from the Depression. He describes how ambitious New Deal programs like the Tennessee Valley Authority became symbols of American liberalism's ability to marshal the social sciences, state planning, civil society, and technology to produce extensive social and economic change. For proponents, it became a valuable weapon to check the influence of menacing ideologies such as Fascism and Communism.
Modernization took on profound geopolitical importance as the United States grappled with these threats. After World War II, modernization remained a means to contain the growing influence of the Soviet Union. Ekbladh demonstrates how U.S.-led nation-building efforts in global hot spots, enlisting an array of nongovernmental groups and international organizations, were a basic part of American strategy in the Cold War.
However, a close connection to the Vietnam War and the upheavals of the 1960s would discredit modernization. The end of the Cold War further obscured modernization's mission, but many of its assumptions regained prominence after September 11 as the United States moved to contain new threats. Using new sources and perspectives, The Great American Mission offers new and challenging interpretations of America's ideological motivations and humanitarian responsibilities abroad.
David Ekbladh is assistant professor of history at Tufts University.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi List of Abbreviations xv INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1: The Rise of an American Style of Development, 1914-1937 14 CHAPTER 2: The Only Road for Mankind: "Modernisation" to Meet the Challenge of Totalitarianism, 1933-1944 40 CHAPTER 3: A Gospel of Liberalism: Point Four and Modernization as National Policy, 1943-1952 77 CHAPTER 4: "The Proving Ground": Modernization and U.S. Policy in Northeast Asia, 1945-1960 114 CHAPTER 5: "The Great American Mission": Modernization and the United States in the World, 1952-1960 153 CHAPTER 6: A TVA on the Mekong: Modernization at War in Southeast Asia, 1960-1973 190 CHAPTER 7: "Everything Is Going Wrong": The Crisis of Development and the End of the Postwar Consensus 226 CHAPTER 8: New Developments: From the Cold War to the "War on Terror" 257 Notes 275 Bibliography 337 Index 373
Cogent and compelling. The Great American Mission illuminates for the first time how the central characteristics of America's modernization project in the Cold War came together in the prewar period. Carefully tracing ideas, institutions, and individuals from the Depression to the heyday of development, Ekbladh offers new insights into the distinctive components of American modernization efforts abroad. — David C. Engerman, Brandeis University
Akira Iriye
A comprehensive history of developmentalism as it became increasingly central to U.S. foreign affairs in the twentieth century. The legacy is still with us, and anyone interested in finding out what may have happened to the 'American century' will find the book an excellent guide and a rich source of information and insights. — Akira Iriye, Harvard University
From the Publisher
"An extraordinarily important book. Ekbladh puts concepts of development and modernization at the heart of America's global expansion in the twentieth century and thereby helps us understand the forces that move U.S. foreign policy, both yesterday and today."—O. A. Westad, author of The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times"A comprehensive history of developmentalism as it became increasingly central to U.S. foreign affairs in the twentieth century. The legacy is still with us, and anyone interested in finding out what may have happened to the 'American century' will find the book an excellent guide and a rich source of information and insights."—Akira Iriye, Harvard University"Cogent and compelling. The Great American Mission illuminates for the first time how the central characteristics of America's modernization project in the Cold War came together in the prewar period. Carefully tracing ideas, institutions, and individuals from the Depression to the heyday of development, Ekbladh offers new insights into the distinctive components of American modernization efforts abroad."—David C. Engerman, Brandeis University
Westad
An extraordinarily important book. Ekbladh puts concepts of development and modernization at the heart of America's global expansion in the twentieth century and thereby helps us understand the forces that move U.S. foreign policy, both yesterday and today. — O. A. Westad, author of "The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times"
