The Council on Foreign Relations and American Policy in the Early Cold War

Founded in 1921, the Council on Foreign Relations is still active today; in fact, the interest in its activities is growing. However, to date little is known about the major aspects of the organization. We are pleased to offer the first comprehensive evaluation of its impact on the decision-making process of American foreign policy, particularly in the immediate postwar period. Was the CFR, as richist critics claimed, the nexus of the organized subversive effort in America ; or was it, as leftists claimed, a central link binding American foreign policy to the corporate upper class ; or did it fall somewhere in between these rather extreme characterizations? Based on extensive analysis of primary sources, this book clearly delineates the Council’s activities - its study and discussion groups and its publications - and the developing internation political, military, and economic situations. This ground-breaking study was highly acclaimed when it first appeared in German, and its availability in translation will be most welcome.

Michael Wala is Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Sciences of the University of Erlangen-Nurnberg. He previously edited Allen Dulles’s The Marshall Plan (1993).