The great American mission : modernization and the construction of an American world order / David Ekbladh.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ekbladh, David, 1972-

Contributor:

JSTOR (Online Service)

Charles H. Maxson Fund.

Series:

America in the world

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economic development--United States--History.

Economic development.

Economic assistance, American--History.

Economic assistance, American.

Industrial policy--United States--History.

Industrial policy.

History.

United States.

United States--Foreign economic relations.

International economic relations.

United States--Foreign relations.

International relations.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvi, 386 pages) : illustrations, map.

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, ©2010.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

The Great American Mission shows how the United States tried to remake the world in its own image during the twentieth century through global modernization efforts. David Ekbladh describes how New Deal programs 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, modernization became a valuable weapon to check the influence of menacing ideologies such as Fascism and Communism. 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 were a basic part of American strategy in the Cold War. The events of the 1960s and the end of the Cold War discredited and obscured modernization's mission, but many of its assumptions regained prominence after September 11 as the United States moved to contain new threats. The Great American Mission offers challenging new interpretations of America's ideological motivations and humanitarian responsibilities abroad. Book jacket.

Contents:

The rise of an American style of development, 1914-1937

The only road for mankind: "modernisation" to meet the challenge of totalitarianism, 1933-1944

A gospel of liberalism: point four and modernization as national policy, 1943-1952

"The proving ground": modernization and U.S. policy in northeast Asia, 1945-1960

"The great American mission": modernization and the United States in the world, 1952-1960

A TVA on the Mekong: modernization at war in southeast Asia, 1960-1973

"Everything is going wrong": the crisis of development and the end of the postwar consensus

New developments: from the Cold War to the "war on terror."

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Electronic reproduction. New York Available via World Wide Web.

Description based on print version record.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Charles H. Maxson Fund.

ISBN:

9781400833740

1400833744

Publisher Number:

99972872232

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.