US Foreign Policy and the Modernization of Iran examines the evolution of US-Iranian relations during the presidencies of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard M. Nixon. It demonstrates how successive administrations struggled to exert influence over the Shah of Iran's regime domestic and foreign policy.

This collection sheds light on the history of charity and philanthropy in the United States since the Civil War. It explores the ways in which charities, local associations, religious organisations and philanthropic foundations have engaged and interacted with American politics, society and relations with the world. Beginning in the 19th-century, the first chapters address the domestic, religious and transatlantic dimensions of philanthropy during a period of conflict and upheaval. The second section showcase four domestic case studies, exploring debates about the purpose of 'good works', including charity in the Ku Klux Klan and philanthropic African-American business women. The last chapters explore how philanthropy sought to shape US foreign policy during the interwar period, and assess the complex relationship between art, culture and government policy during the Cold War. In highlighting the significant role that charitable works have played in American politics and society, and the ways in which the concept of philanthropy has evolved since the mid-19th century, this collection demonstrates their value as a lens through which to view American history.

American Philanthropy at Home and Abroad explores the different ways in which charities, voluntary associations, religious organisations, philanthropic foundations and other non-state actors have engaged with traditions of giving. Using examples from the late eighteenth century to the Cold War, the collection addresses a number of major themes in the history of philanthropy in the United States. These examples include the role of religion, the significance of cultural networks, and the interplay between civil diplomacy and international development, as well as individual case studies that challenge the very notion of philanthropy as a social good. Led by Ben Offiler and Rachel Williams, the authors demonstrate the benefits of embracing a broad definition of philanthropy, examining how American concepts including benevolence and charity have been used and interpreted by different groups and individuals in an effort to shape – and at least nominally to improve – people’s lives both within and beyond the United States.