Abstract
Scholars have long debated how influential the Council on Foreign Relations’ War and Peace Studies project was on the Roosevelt administration and the State Department, especially in the lead-up to US entry into World War II. But these debates have underemphasized the heterogeneity and even confusion displayed within the WPS after the fall of France. The Nazi successes challenged US conceptions of world order profoundly and forced a serious rethink of the responsibilities that the USA should undertake in order to build a world order consistent with its larger goals. By tracking the divergent paths taken by the four WPS groups over the 12 months that followed the Nazi conquest of Western Europe, this article highlights the uncertainty that the Nazi thrust posed to US elites. And it demonstrates how this uncertainty was resolved by accepting a more proactive and muscular US role in world affairs.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
War and Peace Studies Project: First Plenary Session. Box 74, Folder: CRF—War and Peace Studies—Memoranda and meetings, Organizations and Committees, Hamilton Fish Armstrong Papers MC 002, Council on Foreign Relations Records, Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton, NJ.
Woolpert, R. G. (1940) The Havana Conference, Box 298, Folder 4: Territorial Group and Unbound Material, MC 104.03: War and Peace Studies Department Series, 1918–2004, Council on Foreign Relations Records, Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton, NJ.
Mallory, W. H. (1940a) Report on a visit of the Messers. Franklin, Langsam and Upgren to Hugh Wilson in Washington, Friday July 13, 1940. Box 300, Folder 6: Miscellaneous Material 1940–1943, Studies Department Series, Council on Foreign Relations—War and Peace Studies Group, 1918–2004 MC 104.03, Mudd Library, Princeton, NJ.
Mosely, P. E. (1941) A Critique of the “Grand Area” as a Working Concept, Box 299, Folder 2: Territorial Group and Unbound Material, 1941, MC 104.03: War and Peace Studies Department Series, 1918–2004, Council on Foreign Relations Records, Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton, NJ.
Diebold, Jr., W. (1941) Rejoinder to the Territorial Group’s A Critique of the “Grand Area” as a Working Concept, Box 299, Folder 2: Territorial Group and Unbound Material, 1941, MC 104.03: War and Peace Studies Department Series, 1918–2004, Council on Foreign Relations Records, Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton, NJ.
References
Council on Foreign Relations. 1940a. Studies of American Interests in the War and the Peace: Political Series. New York, NY: Council on Foreign Relations Library.
Council on Foreign Relations. 1940b. Studies of American Interests in the War and the Peace: Territorial Series. New York, NY: Council on Foreign Relations Library.
Council on Foreign Relations. 1940c. Studies of American Interests in the War and the Peace: Security and Armaments Series. New York, NY: Council on Foreign Relations Library.
Council on Foreign Relations. 1940d. Studies of American Interests in the War and the Peace: Economic and Financial Series. New York, NY: Council on Foreign Relations Library.
Council on Foreign Relations. 1940e. Studies of American Interests in the War and the Peace: Political Series, Memoranda of Discussions, PA 1-53, 1940–1945. New York, NY: Council on Foreign Relations Library.
Council on Foreign Relations. 1940f. Studies of American Interests in the War and the Peace: Territorial Series, TA1-48, 1940–1944. New York, NY: Council on Foreign Relations Library.
Council on Foreign Relations. 1940g. Studies of American Interests in the War and the Peace: Armaments Series, AA 1-53, 1940–1945. New York, NY: Council on Foreign Relations Library.
Council on Foreign Relations. 1940h. Studies of American Interests in the War and the Peace: Economic and Financial Series, E-A1-33, 1940–1942. New York, NY: Council on Foreign Relations Library.
Dalleck, R. (1979). Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy. New York: Oxford University Press.
Domhoff, G.W. 1990. The Power Elite and the State: How Policy is Made in America. New York: Aldyne de Gruyter.
Gellman, I.F. 1979. Good Neighbour Diplomacy: United States Policy in Latin America, 1933–1945. Baltimore, MA: John Hopkins University Press.
Hearden, P. 1987. Roosevelt Confronts Hitler: America’s Entry Into World War II. Deklab, IL: Northern Illinois University Press.
Parmar, I. 2004. Think Tanks and Power in Foreign Policy. New York: Palgrave.
Reynolds, D. 1982. The Creation of the Anglo-American Alliance 1937–1941: A Study in Comparative Cooperation. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Reynolds, D. 1990. 1940: Fulcrum of the Twentieth Century? International Affairs 66(2): 325–350.
Santoro, C.M. 1992. Diffidence and Ambition: The Intellectual Sources of US Foreign Policy. Boulder: Westview Press.
Shoup, L.H., and W. Minter. 1977. Imperial Brains Trust: The Council on Foreign Relations and United States Foreign Policy. New York: Monthly Review Press.
Schulzinger, R.D. 1984. The Wise Men of Foreign Affairs: The History of the Council on Foreign Relations. New York: Columbia University Press.
Smith, N. 2003. American Empire: Roosevelt’s Geographer and the Prelude to Globalization. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Thompson, J.A. 2015. A Sense of Power: The Roots of America’s Global Role. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Wala, M. 1994. The Council on Foreign Relations and American Foreign Policy in the Early Cold War. Providence: Berghahn.
Wertheim, S. 2015. Tomorrow, the World: The Birth of U.S. Global Supremacy in World War II. Ph.D. Thesis, New York: Columbia University.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fletcher, L. Confusion and convergence: the Nazi challenge to world order and the CFR response, 1940–1941. Int Polit 55, 888–903 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41311-017-0103-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41311-017-0103-3