Cold War Monks : Buddhism and America's Secret Strategy in Southeast Asia / Eugene Ford.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ford, Eugene, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Buddhism--Southeast Asia.

Buddhism.

Buddhism and politics--Southeast Asia.

Buddhism and politics.

Buddhism and politics--Thailand.

Buddhism--Thailand--History.

Southeast Asia.

Thailand.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 375 pages) : illustrations, map

Place of Publication:

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, [2017]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

The groundbreaking account of U.S. clandestine efforts to use Southeast Asian Buddhism to advance Washington's anticommunist goals during the Cold War How did the U.S. government make use of a "Buddhist policy" in Southeast Asia during the Cold War despite the American principle that the state should not meddle with religion? To answer this question, Eugene Ford delved deep into an unprecedented range of U.S. and Thai sources and conducted numerous oral history interviews with key informants. Ford uncovers a riveting story filled with U.S. national security officials, diplomats, and scholars seeking to understand and build relationships within the Buddhist monasteries of Southeast Asia. This fascinating narrative provides a new look at how the Buddhist leaderships of Thailand and its neighbors became enmeshed in Cold War politics and in the U.S. government's clandestine efforts to use a predominant religion of Southeast Asia as an instrument of national stability to counter communist revolution.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

One. The Buddhist World and the United States at the Onset of the Cold War, 1941-1954

Two. Washington Formulates a Buddhist Policy, 1954-1957

Three. Thailand and the International Buddhist Arena, 1956-1962

Four Reforming the Monks

Five. Thailand and the International Response to the 1963 Buddhist Crisis in South Vietnam

Six. Enforcing the Code

Seven. Thailand's Buddhist Hierarchy Confronts Its Challengers, 1967-1975

Eight. The Rage of Thai Buddhism, 1975-1980

Conclusion: From Byoto to Kittivudho

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 26. Nov 2019)

ISBN:

0-300-23128-8

OCLC:

1005008267