Religion and American Foreign Policy, 1945-1960: The Soul of Containment [Hardcover]

William Inboden III (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521513472 | ISBN-13: 978-0521513470 | Publication Date: August 25, 2008

The Cold War was in many ways a religious war. Presidents Truman and Eisenhower and other American leaders believed that human rights and freedoms were endowed by God, that God had called the United States to defend liberty in the world, and that Soviet communism was especially evil because of its atheism and its enmity to religion. Along with security and economic concerns, these religious convictions also helped determine both how the United States defined the enemy and how it fought the conflict. Meanwhile, American Protestant churches failed to seize the moment. Internal differences over theology and politics, and resistance to cooperation with Catholics and Jews, hindered Protestant leaders domestically and internationally. Frustrated by these internecine disputes, Truman and Eisenhower attempted instead to construct a new civil religion. This public theology was used to mobilize domestic support for Cold War measures, to determine the strategic boundaries of containment, to appeal to people of all religious faiths around the world to unite against communism, and to undermine the authority of communist governments within their own countries.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"William Inboden presents an illuminating and insightful account of how mainline Protestant theology not only provided rhetoric but also helped shape the substance of American Cold War policies under both Truman and Eisenhower." - George Marsden, author of A Short Life of Jonathan Edwards

"William Inboden's well-researched and carefully argued study documents the various ways that religion functioned powerfully as support for American participation in the Cold War and also its multiple uses as an instrument of battle in that conflict. Without denying the importance of military, economic, or political motives for post-war American foreign policy, Inboden shows how decisively religious factors worked to shape the nation's stance toward the world. This excellent book is important for clarifying a critical period in American history but also for providing perspective on the religious entanglements of more recent international politics." - Mark A. Noll, Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History, University of Notre Dame

"William Inboden has written a pioneering and profusely researched study into a core component of America's post-war foreign policy. His book is essential reading for scholars, students, and decision makers interested in how America looks at, and interacts with, the world." - Michael B. Oren, Professor at Georgetown University and author of Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to the Present

"William Inboden is in the forefront of a rising generation of scholars who are fundamentally recasting our understanding of the role of religion in Cold War America. In this richly researched and gracefully written account, Inboden documents the myriad ways that American faith communities shaped and were shaped by the nearly five-decade stand-off between Washington and Moscow. Essential reading for students of both religion and diplomacy in modern America." - David M. Kennedy, Professor of History, Stanford University

"William Inboden has done something remarkable: He has said something genuinely new about one of the most heavily mined periods of American foreign policy. His thoughtful, rigorous discussion of the role of religion in early Cold War foreign policy reminds us of two fundamental truths. First, that religion is a powerful factor, across party lines, in how Americans see the world. And second, that religion never offers simple lessons about what kind of foreign policy America should pursue." - Peter Beinart, author of The Good Fight: Why Liberals - and only Liberals - Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again

"Inboden reads history with clear eyes and opens ours to the fact that diplomatic theology and theological diplomacy mattered far more to those who conducted American foreign policy than those who have studied it have hitherto understood." - Peter Feaver, Alexander F. Hehmeyer Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, Duke University

"The American academy has been rediscovering the importance of religion in politics and foreign policy; Inboden's new book makes a vital contribution to this ongoing project by examining the ways in which both politicians and religious leaders grappled with the challenges of Cold War diplomacy. . . . Ranging over subjects as diverse as the missionary influence in the China lobby and the political impact of the once-formidable Moral Rearmament movement, Inboden produces a stimulating and compelling picture of American religious and political life. " --Walter Russell Mead in Foreign Affairs

"The American academy has been rediscovering the importance of religion in politics and foreign policy; Inboden's new book makes a vital contribution to this ongoing project by examining the ways in which both politicians and religious leaders grappled with the challenges of Cold War diplomacy....Ranging over subjects as diverse as the missionary influence in the China lobby and the political impact of the once-formidable Moral Rearmament movement, Inboden produces a stimulating and compelling picture of American religious and political life."
Walter Russell Mead, Foreign Affairs

"Part of what makes Inboden's book necessary and so rewarding is that he combines the skills of an intellectual historian with a practitioner's awareness of the limits of converting ideas into policies." --Books and Culture

"...a compelling book... . Inboden contributes a valuable study with a convincing argument about the influence of religion and faith on American policy making." ―The Journal of American History

Book Description

The Cold War was in many ways a religious war. Presidents Truman and Eisenhower and many other Americans opposed communism because of its hostility to religion. Since American Protestant churches were divided, American political leaders constructed a new civil religion to mobilize domestic support, to determine the boundaries of containment, to unite people against communism, and to undermine communist governments abroad.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 372 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (August 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521513472
• ISBN-13: 978-0521513470
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,374,954 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timely warnings, July 17, 2009

By 

Doris M. Leroy "DorisM" (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Religion and American Foreign Policy, 1945-1960: The Soul of Containment (Hardcover)

This book is a must for those studying American foreign policy, especially in the present climate of religious intolerance.

Inboden highlights little known facts to reveal the lengths to which American religious leaders co-operated with the State against communism in the Cold War. This fact should be emphasised in our present world situation.

Doris LeRoy
Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars containment has always had a religious implicaqtion, November 20, 2008

By 

Gautam Maitra "gautam maitra" (Kolkata, India) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Religion and American Foreign Policy, 1945-1960: The Soul of Containment (Hardcover)

Wiliam Inboden's book on Religion and American foreign Policy is a good attempt to establish that truth contrary to the claims of its founders, that religion has always influenced the United States society and its foreign policy. The cold war era'a containment policy was no exception and Inboden just takes out a sapmple period in the entire American foreign policy history to prove this.

The religious-ethical basis of containment, whether it has a self imposed grand isolation or a bid to contain and isolate the erstwhile Soviet Union are extremely interlinked. The entire gamut of US post war foreign policies show that adversaries may change but not the policy of isolating the opponents. American concept of liberal democracy indeed flounders on the rock of this single policy concept that has even used international forums like the UN for that purpose. Huntington has already established how religion deeply influenced the American psyche.

Inboden's book is well researched and specialized in that it is restricted from 1945 to 1960 but this period has been the trend setter for all future US foreign policies.

Gautam Maitra
Author of 'Tracing the Eagle's Orbit: Illuminating Insights into Major US Foreign Policies Since Independence'.