The Reluctant Empire? U.S. Foreign Relations in the 20th Century

Historisches Seminar der Universität Heidelberg Historisches Seminar der Universität Heidelberg Historisches Seminar der Universität Heidelberg Historisches Seminar der Universität Heidelberg

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Ruprecht-Karls-Universität HeidelbergCurt-Engelhorn Chair in American History Prof. Dr. Manfred BergWinter Term 2008/2009

The Reluctant Empire?

U.S. Foreign Relations in the 20th Century

Historisches Seminar der Universität Heidelberg

The U.S., the Cold War, and the Third World

The U.S. and Decolonization The U.S. and the Modernization of the

Third World Domestic Racism and the American

Image Abroad Covert Operations and Interventions

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U.S. and Colonialism

The Legacy of 1776 The Monroe Doctrine Resentment of British Empire

But:Conquest of North American ContinentImperialist Fever of 1898Priority of Relations with European Colonial Powers

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Decolonization of U.S. Possessions

1946: Independence for the Philippines

1952: Commonwealth Status for Puerto Rico

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The Third World

1955 Conference of Nonaligned Nations at Bandung, Indonesia

Ceylon Prime Minister, Sir John Kotelawala, & Indian Premier, Jawaharlal Nehru, at the Bandung Conference.

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Walt W. Rostow, 1916-2003 Deputy Special Assistant for National

Security Affairs, 1960-1961 Counselor to the State Department and

Chairman of the Policy Planning Council, 1961-1966

Appointed by Pres. Johnson as U.S. Member of the Inter-American Committee on the Alliance for Progress (CIAP), 1964

Special Assistant for National Security Affairs, 1966-1969

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Modernization Theory

All societies follow a linear path to modernity

The Western model of modernity is the goal of historical development

Development can be accelerated by prudent economic policies

Development will immunize a society against communism

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The Ugly American, 1958The Ugly American Book Cover A Poster from the 1963 Film

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Peace Corps, 1961

President Kennedy greets Peace Corps volunteers, 28 August 1961.

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Alliance for Progress

Pres. Kennedy inaugurates a new school in Bogotá, Columbia, sponsored by economic aid from the Alliance for Progress on December 17, 1961.

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Gunnar Myrdal, 1898-1987

America, for its international prestige, power, and future security needs to demonstrate to the world that American Negroes can be satisfactorily integrated into its democracy.

An American Dilemma, 1944

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W.E.B. Du Bois, 1868-1963

Peoples of the World, we American Negroes appeal to you; our treatment in America is not merely an internal question of the United States. It is a basic problem of humanity.

An Appeal to the World, 1947

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Little Rock, Arkansas 1957

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Birmingham, Alabama, 1963

Civil rights demonstrator attacked by a police dog on May 3, 1963.

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Covert Operations

National Security Act of 1947 authorizes the Central Intelligence Agency: “to perform such other functions and duties related to intelligence affecting the national security as the National Security Council may from time to time direct.”

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Covert Operations

Definition: Activity sponsored by the US government against foreign states or groups that is so planned and executed that U.S. responsibility is not evident to unauthorized persons and can be plausibly denied, if uncovered.

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Mohammad Mosaddeq, 1882-1967 Prime Minister of Iran, 1951-1953

Time Magazine’s Person of the Year, 1951

Removed from power by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, in a complex coup led by British and US intelligence agencies, 1953

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Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán, 1913-1971

President of Guatemala, 1951-1954

Toppled by the CIA organized Coup d‘état known as Operation “PBSUCCESS”

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Patrice Lumumba, 1925-1961

First elected Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, June 1960

Forced out of office, September 1960

Assassinated, January 1961

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The Bay of Pigs Invasion, April 15-19, 1961

Castro, lower right, watches from a tank near Playa Giron during the Bay of Pigs invasion.

Cuban militiamen and members of the Revolutionary Army celebrate their victory at Playa Giron.