Faith and Foreign Affairs in the American Century

The United States has led the world in almost every way since World War I. In 1941, Life magazine publisher Henry Luce dubbed his country’s preponderant power “the American Century.” His editorial was a statement of fact but also an aspiration for countrymen to unite in promotion of a world order friendly to American interests. Faith and Foreign Affairs in the American Century examines the nature of public involvement in American diplomacy. As a concept decades in the making, the American Century was conceived by those connected through the country’s leading foreign policy think tank, the Council on Foreign Relations. The missionary couple and Washington insiders Francis and Helen Miller, who fought to make the American empire a radically democratic one, figured prominently in that work. The Millers’ many partnerships embodied the conflicts as well as the cooperation of Christianity and secularism in the long reimagining of the United States as a global state. Mark Thomas Edwards offers in this study a genealogy of the concept of the American Century. Readers will encounter moments of Protestant Christian power and marginalization in the making of modern American foreign relations.

Scholarly interest in the intersection between religion and foreign affairs has grown considerably in recent years, so that analysis of foreign policy decision-making can no longer ignore the influence of faith. Doing so runs the risk of reducing diplomacy to the narrow confines of political and economic filters, ignoring the cultural, social, and religious dimensions that shape worldviews. Edwards (Spring Arbor Univ.) here argues that American diplomacy has been equally secular and religious, a phenomenon he calls “Protestant secularism” (first coined by theologist Paul Tillich), through which religious initiatives are often secularized and secular initiatives are often Christianized. Interestingly, Edwards claims that democracy became less participatory after WW II, opening the door to elitist agendas to create a wider Judeo-Christian consensus, which was in reality a civil religion at best. He further contends that understanding this interrelationship is important, as it allows historians to better understand the complicated web of religion and secularism without seeing the two as polarizing opposites. In doing so, he helps to widen the discussion of American religion and foreign affairs, arguing that they often act as two sides of the same coin. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels., This book retells the history of twentieth-century diplomacy as a disappearing act. The 'American Century' was born of a Protestant–secular partnership, but through Edwards' careful archival work, we watch the ecumenical Protestant departure from the international stage. This is an imperative work, showing, first, how essential Protestant secularism was in the effort to define the United States as a great global power and, second, how intimate and familial this quest—and its slow fade from political relevance—was. This is required reading for anyone interested in democracy, Christianity, and foreign affairs., This book retells the history of twentieth-century diplomacy as a disappearing act. The American Century was born of a Protestant-secular partnership, but through Edwards' careful archival work, we watch the ecumenical Protestant departure from the international stage. This is an imperative work, showing, first, how essential Protestant secularism was in the effort to define the U.S. as a great global power, and, second, how intimate and familial this quest, and its slow fade from political relevance, was. Required reading for anyone interested in democracy, Christianity, and foreign affairs., Scholars have spent a great deal of time and energy debating the extent to which US foreign policy has been religious or secular. But what if this is a false choice? In this intriguingly provocative, highly original, and deeply insightful book that takes readers beyond the religious turn, Mark Thomas Edwards shows how 'Protestant secularism' powered the emergence and spectacular growth of American internationalism., This smart, creatively conceived, and rigorously researched book will be crucial for students and scholars alike. Focused on the Council of Foreign Relations and its founders, this is also a broader history of the United States in the world, American protestant cultural power, and the early Cold War, all told in a lively way that unpacks the dream of engaging the broader public in foreign policy. It is a rich book, and it should be broadly read and taught.

Mark Thomas Edwards is associate professor of US history and politics at Spring Arbor University.