"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.
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