Tibet : an unfinished story / Lezlee Brown Halper, Stefan Halper.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Halper, Lezlee Brown, author.

Halper, Stefan A., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Myth--Political aspects--History--20th century.

Myth.

World politics--1945-1989.

World politics.

Tibet Autonomous Region (China)--History--1951-.

Tibet Autonomous Region (China).

Tibet Autonomous Region (China)--Foreign relations--20th century.

Tibet Autonomous Region (China)--Strategic aspects.

Tibet Autonomous Region (China)--Foreign public opinion, Western.

India--Foreign relations--China.

India.

China--Foreign relations--India.

China.

United States--Foreign relations--1945-1953.

United States.

United States--Foreign relations--1953-1961.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (406 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York, New York : Oxford University Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"The mythologising of Tibet in the West and the Himalyan state's subsequent abandonment to China are recounted in this briskly-paced and revealing new history"-- Provided by publisher.

"Tibet's enduring myth, animated by the tales of Himalayan adventurers, British military expeditions, and the novel, Lost Horizon, remains an inspirational fantasy, a modern morality play about the failure of brutality to subdue the human spirit. Tibet also exercises immense 'soft power' as one of the lenses through which the world views China. This book traces the origins and manifestations of the Tibetan myth, as propagated by Younghusband, Madam Blavatsky, Himmler, Acheson and Roosevelt. The authors discuss how, after WW2, Tibet-- isolated, misunderstood and with a tiny elite unschooled in political-military realities--misread the diplomacy between its two giant neighbours, India and China, forlornly hoping London or Washington might intervene. China's People's Liberation Army sought nothing less than to deconstruct traditional Tibet, unseat the Dalai Lama and 'absorb' this vast region into the People's Republic, and Lhasa succumbed to China's invasion in 1950. Drawing on declassified CIA and Chinese documents, the authors reveal Mao's collusion with Stalin to subdue Tibet, double-dealing by Nehru, the brilliant diplomacy of Chou en Lai and how Washington see-sawed between the China lobby, who insisted there be no backing for an independent Tibet, and Presidents Truman and later Eisenhower, who initiated a covert CIA programme to support the Dalai Lama and resist Chinese occupation. It is an ignoble saga with few, if any, heroes, other than ordinary Tibetans"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Prologue

Introduction

PART I

1. Earliest Beginnings in the Western Imagination

2. Sir Francis Younghusband : Soldier, Visionary, Romantic

3. British and Nazi Versions of the Tibetan Image

4. Stilwell, the Burma Hump, and the Office of Strategic Services (OSS)

5. The First Truman Administration

6. The Iron Triangle : the China Lobby, the Red Scare, and the Catholic Church

7. Truman and India

8. Tibetan Independence : Resting upon a Three-Legged Stool

9. The Matter of Tibet's Status

10. Lowell Thomas in Tibet

11. Major Douglas Mackiernan : A Tragic Incident

12. "The Bearded Khampa" : Tibet's Paul Revere

13. 1950 : The PLA Invades Korea and Tibet

14. Nehru's Non-Alignment, the Korean War, and Tibet

15. The Dalai Lama and Henderson's Plan

16. Mr. Nehru Again

17. Formosa : The Unsinkable Aircraft Carrier

PART II

18. The Eisenhower Era

19. Pakistan : A New American Ally

20. The Panchsheel Agreement : An Indo-Chinese Condominium

21. Nehru's Bid for Global Prominence

22. NSC Directive 5412 : Structuring CIA Operations

23. Mobilizing Religion

24. Meanwhile, a World Away

25. Gyalo Thondup : A Mystery Wrapped in an Enigma

26. Washington's Covert Program in Tibet

27. The South Asian Rubik Cube

28. The Dalai Lama Leaves Tibet

29. Tibet and the United Nations

30. The Dalai Lama, Nehru, and the Chinese : A Difficult Mix

31. Conclusion

32. Postscript

Appendix: Seventeen-Point Plan for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet (1951).

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-19-023790-2

OCLC:

891386554