Networks of Empire: The US State Department's Foreign Leader Program in the Netherlands, France and Britain 1950-1970 (Cite Europeenne/ European Policy)

Exchange programmes have been a part of US foreign relations since the nineteenth century, but it was only during and after World War II that they were applied by the US government on a large scale to influence foreign publics in support of strategic objectives. This book looks at the background, organisation, and goals of the Department of State’s most prestigious activity in this field, the Foreign Leader Program. The Program (still running as the International Visitor Leadership Program) enabled US Embassies to select and invite talented, influential ‘opinion leaders’ to visit the United States, meet their professional counterparts, and gain a broad understanding of American attitudes and opinions from around the country. By tracking the operation of the Program in three key transatlantic allies of the United States a full picture is given of who was selected and why, and how the target groups changed over time in line with a developing US-European relationship. The book therefore takes a unique in-depth look at the importance of exchanges for the extension of US ‘informal empire’ and the maintenance of the transatlantic alliance during the Cold War. Contents Preface 11 Abbreviations 15 INTRODUCTION. Networks of Empire. The Foreign Leader Program in Global Perspective 21 Defining Public Diplomacy 25 Informal Empire 28 The Aims of the Program 33 The Challenge of Soviet Public Diplomacy 37 The Foreign Leader Program’s Global Scale 39 Organisation of the Book 45 PART I. HISTORY AND APPARATUS CHAPTER 1. The History of US Government Exchanges 49 Laying the Foundations 49 Strategy: Psychological Warfare and the Focus on Elites 57 Smith-Mundt and the Campaign of Truth 65 CHAPTER 2. Implementing the Leader Program 75 The Administrative Apparatus 75 Public-Private Cooperation 88 Programming the Grantees 94 PART II. THE NETHERLANDS IN THE 1950S CHAPTER 3. The PvdA and the Transatlantic Anti-Communist Alliance 103 The Netherlands after WWII 103 The Partij van de Arbeid and the Atlanticist Turn 106 Mobilising Domestic Anti-Communism: Evert Vermeer 110 A Rising Star: J.M. den Uyl 114 Organising Government Propaganda: Joop Landré 119 The Threat of Bevanism: Hein Vos 129 A Dutch Cold Warrior: Frans Goedhart 133 CHAPTER 4. The Trade Unions ,Socio-Economic Policy and the American Model 145 The Trade Unions and the Marshall Plan 145 The Worldview of the Dutch Trade Unions 148 Searching for ‘Spiritual Factors’: Frans Fuykschot 153 Useful Allies: Reint Laan and Pieter Bogaers 157 Building Transatlantic Linkages with Dutch Technocrats 163 The Transfer of Industrial Skills and Methods 169 Engaging the Catholic Minority 177 The 1960s and the Shift to Managing Elites 181 CHAPTER 5. Spreading the Word: Culture and the Media 189 Targeting the Dutch Media 190 The NATO Leader Program: Cheap but Effective 193 Jointly Sponsored Journalists: Teaching the Method 199 Journalists as Foreign Leaders 200 Securing the Realm of High Culture: Hendrik Reinink 207 Libraries: The Push to Mechanise and Standardise 218 Literary Transmitters: The FLP and Dutch Writers 222 PART III. THE NETHERLANDS IN THE 1960S CHAPTER 6. Coping with Irritations: The Early 1960s 235 Negative Effects: KLM Landing Rights and New Guinea 236 Pushing Educational Exchange 241 Swaying the Dutch Media 244 Going for the Impossible: The Dutch and the MLF 253 Free Trade: The Netherlands, the EEC, and Rotterdam 269 CHAPTER 7. Steering Bilateral Relations in the Vietnam Era 279 The US Embassy under Ambassador Tyler 1965-69 279 Commanding the ‘Listening Post’: William Tyler 280 A Good Team: The US Embassy in The Hague 1965-69 285 Connecting the New Generation: The Emphasis on Youth 287 The Issues: NATO and Vietnam 290 The Issues: Economics and the EEC 299 Backing a Political Ally: The VVD 305 The Arts: Putting the Dutch in the Picture 308 The New Politics: D 66 314 PART IV. FRANCE AND BRITAIN CHAPTER 8. The Foreign Leader Program in France 1950-70 327 Finding an Entrance into French Politics 332 A Big Impact: Higher Education and American Studies 336 Seducing the Media 345 Reaching the Third World through Paris 349 The 1960s and Gaullism 353 Conclusion 361 CHAPTER 9. The Foreign Leader Program in Britain 1950-70 365 The Labour Party and Its Allies in the Early 1950s 367 Coping with Anti-Americanism 376 ‘Suez Must Not Repeat Itself’: Maximising Exchanges 382 The 1960s: Modernisation, Youth, and Culture 393 Conclusion 401 CONCLUSION. The Problems of Evaluation 403 The Application of Social Science 404 Evaluating the Exchange Apparatus 410 A Question of Quality 412 The Leader Program in Western Europe 414 APPENDIX I. FLP Grantees from Britain 1950-70 425 APPENDIX II. FLP Grantees from France 1950-70 445 APPENDIX III. FLP Grantees from the Netherlands 1950-70 473 APPENDIX IV. List of Interviews 483 APPENDIX V. Archives 485 Select Bibliography 487 Index 505