Internationalism Meets the Cold War: Interwar Book Networks as Challenge to State Power

Steven W. Witt

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Chapter 1 Internationalism Meets the Cold War

Interwar Book Networks as Challenge to State Power

In: Book Diplomacy in the Cultural Cold War

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Steven W. Witt

Steven W. Witt
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https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5931-4774

Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 45–64

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004728196_003

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Abstract

From 1918 to 1952, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) distributed books to promote internationalism to over a thousand public and university libraries across the rural US and in counties throughout Europe, Latin America, the Near East, and Asia. This campaign established an extensive network of publishers, authors, libraries, and readers for the purpose of promoting internationalism and peace through the use of books as cultural ambassadors. By the 1950’s, these books and the extensive nature of their network became the focus of cold-war paranoia within the US. This chapter traces the history of the CEIPS’s public diplomacy through book distribution, analyzing the International Mind Alcoves collections and International Relations Clubs and exploring the manner by which the Special Committee to Investigate Tax-Exempt Foundations attempted limit the ability of foundations to use book networks to influence public opinion during the Cold War.

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Book Diplomacy in the Cultural Cold War

Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Series: New Perspectives on the Cold War, Volume: 13

Cover Book Diplomacy in the Cultural Cold War

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004728196

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 17 Jun 2025

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Part 1 Book Diplomacy and Power in the International System

Part 2 Publishers and Literary Agents

Part 3 Translation and the Role of Translators

Part 4 Censorship, Propaganda, and Informal Diplomacy

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Chapter 1 Internationalism Meets the Cold War

Interwar Book Networks as Challenge to State Power

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Citation Info

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Book Diplomacy in the Cultural Cold War

Interdisciplinary Perspectives

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