American hegemony and the postwar reconstruction of science in Europe

"John Krige's new book is a great book, a book that has two major assets. It is first a collection of half a dozen superb case studies of American interventions in the scientific rebuilding of post--World War II (mainly Continental) Europe. It is also the first general account of the place given to science and technology in American foreign policy between 1944 and the mid-1960s, the first attempt at showing its coherence, its deliberate integration into the set of tools needed to militarily and ideologically win the cold war. In both domains, the book is a real success." -- Dominique Pestre, The Journal of Modern History "In this path-breaking analysis of international science policy after World War II, John Krige argues that the United States attempted, and to some extent succeeded, in remolding the organization of western European science to align with its own political and ideological interests...Anyone interested in the history of science during the Cold War ought to become familiar with this book. Indeed, anyone interested in the broader topics of post-1945 Europe or the mutual interaction of science and empire-building in any era will find it a valuable read." -- Richard Beyler, H-Net "Until now, there have been few studies of the role of science in the ideological struggle for post-war European hearts and minds. John Krige's superb new book goes a long way towards repairing this omission. He shows for the first time how science was an integral part of the creation of American hegemony in post-war Europe." -- Jeff Hughes, British Journal for the History of Science "John Krige's scholarly new work...merits a place on the shelf of anyone with a serious interest in trans-Atlantic relations during the postwar decades...Krige's book leaves much to do. His subtle treatment nevertheless provides an exemplar for others who wish to explore trans-Atlantic relations, whether in science or in other fields of common interest, and is, in this important way, a path-breaking work." -- John Servos, Business History Review "John Krige's book combines insights from the history of U.S. foreign relations and science studies in order to examine how American patronage shaped the scientific enterprise in Europe after World War II. Cold War politics and American dollars, Krige argues, combined with the aspirations of scientific communities on both sides of the Atlantic to produce a scientific order consonant with American ideals and foreign policy objectives." -- Jessica Wang, American Historical Review "Krige's account provides strong support for his concept of a co-produced hegemony. He convincingly combines the idea of an American empire engaged in the defense of free-market economy, individual rights, and political democracy with the perception of a science radically changed by the Cold War." -- Science "John Krige's impressively researched case studies document a US cold-war agenda for shaping European science that was deeply political--yet, for all of America's preponderance of material resources, subject to continuous negotiation. As a book that also reveals how the enrollment of science became a project for state-building, this work is important for students of American power, hard and soft." --Charles S. Maier, Saltonstall Professor of History, Harvard University "Krige's book is the first comprehensive account of American efforts both to reconstruct European science after World War II and to make it a politically reliable ally of American purposes in the Cold War. Drawing on a vast array of published and archival sources, it ranges authoritatively across key subjects such as physics and genetics, NATO and CERN, and the Ford and Rockefeller philanthropies, setting all of them in the larger context of American foreign policy in postwar Europe. The result is an original, important, and eye-opening work, one that will interest historians of the Cold War as well as historians of science and technology." --Daniel J. Kevles, Stanley Woodward Professor of History, Yale University "The first comprehensive study of the important role that the natural sciences played in America's cultural Cold War in Europe, this truly excellent and carefully researched book will be of great interest not only to modern historians of all stripes but also to scientists. A model of the new approach to the history of science, it includes a particularly fascinating chapter on Niels Bohr's institute in Copenhagen and its cooperation with the Ford Foundation and the CIA." --V. R. Berghahn, Seth Low Professor of History, Columbia University Read more...