Think Tanks and Power in Foreign Policy: A Comparative Study of the Role and Influence of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1939–1945 PDF
Preview Think Tanks and Power in Foreign Policy: A Comparative Study of the Role and Influence of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1939–1945
Think Tanks and Power in Foreign Policy Also by Inderjeet Parmar SPECIAL INTERESTS, THE STATE AND THE ANGLO-AMERICAN ALLIANCE, 1939–1945 Think Tanks and Power in Foreign Policy A Comparative Study of the Role and Influence of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1939–1945 Inderjeet Parmar Senior Lecturer, Department of Government University of Manchester, UK © Inderjeet Parmar 2004 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2004 978-1-349-51520-2 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2004 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-51520-2 ISBN 978-0-230-00078-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/978-0-230-00078-0 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Parmar, Inderjeet. Think tanks and power in foreign policy:a comparative study of the role and influence of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1939–1945/Inderjeet Parmar. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1–4039–2103–2 1. Council on Foreign Relations—History—20th century. 2. Royal Institute of International Affairs—History—20th century. 3. United States—Foreign relations—1933–1945. 4. Great Britain—Foreign relations—1936–1945. 5. World War, 1939–1945—Diplomatic history. 6. World War, 1939–1945—Public opinion. 7. Public opinion— United States—History—20th century. 8. Public opinion—Great Britain—History—20th century. 9. Research institutes— United States—History—20th century. 10. Research institutes— Great Britain—History—20th century. I. Title. E806.P35555 2004 940.53′2241—dc22 2003066181 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 Contents Acknowledgements vi Part 1 1 1 Introduction 3 2 Sociology of the CFR and RIIA 24 3 The World-view of Chatham House and the CFR 48 Part 2 75 4 The Role and Influence of Chatham House in the Making of British Foreign Policy 77 5 The Role and Influence of the CFR in the Making of American Foreign Policy 108 Part 3 133 6 The Role of the CFR in the Mobilisation of American Public Opinion 135 7 The Role of Chatham House in the Mobilisation of British Public Opinion 166 Part 4 187 8 CFR–RIIA Interconnections: A Transnational Ruling Class, Liberal Atlantic Community or Anglo-American Establishment? 189 9 Conclusion 215 Notes 224 Bibliography 249 Index 259 v Acknowledgements Over the course of researching and writing this book, I received generous assistance from many individuals and organisations. My parents-in-law have been absolutely marvellous. The material help they provided, in all sorts of ways, went a long way to making this book possible at all, especially during the many trips to the United States. In fact, it was during a holiday visit to their home in Kuala Lumpur that this book was planned. I must also thank Rekha for her wonderful hospitality and other assistance. Finally, thanks are due to my brother, Gurmeet, for his quiet confidence in my work over the years. For financial support, the Department of Government, as well as the former Department of American Studies, the Faculty of Economic and Social Studies, the British Academy, and the Arts and Humanities Research Board, proved generous sponsors. In addition, a visiting scholarship at St John’s College, Oxford, was vital in conducting research at the Bodleian Library; and a spell as Visiting Fellow at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library at Princeton proved similarly helpful. The friendly archivists at the Mudd Library even arranged an enjoyable (at least for me) lunch-time seminar at which I tried to make some sense of the research I had thus far done. I deeply appreciate their generosity. In fact, the archivists and librarians at all of the institutions that Ivisited – Chatham House, the CFR, Columbia University, Johns Hopkins, the Rockefeller Foundation, Harvard, Yale, the US National Archives, the Public Record Office and at the London School of Economics (BLPES) – were helpful with their knowledge and expertise, and generous with their time. I would particularly like to mention two of them: Mary Bone and Ben Rosenbaum. It is a pleasure to thank them at this time. There are a number of colleagues and friends whose contribution tothis work has been very important, in providing encouragement, a sounding board for some half-baked notions, reading chapter drafts and giving constructive, helpful advice. From the Department, Douglas Jaenicke has been an excellent friend, colleague and willing (I hope!) reader, who never dodged a draft chapter. He is enough of a friend to give his honest opinion, a truly rare commodity. Jonathan Harwood also read several draft chapters and was so interested in the material that he asked me questions that reminded me what the whole project was really about which, as the ‘book’ writing entered its nth year, was pretty vi Acknowledgements vii important! From a former colleague, Stephen Young, now retired, I extracted many useful comments on the opening chapter. My thanks to them all. I also owe a debt of gratitude to several non-Manchester colleagues and friends, especially Chris Hill, John Dumbrell, Des King, Michael Heale, Mick Cox, Michael Dockrill and Leslie Sklair. Over the years, I have learned a great deal from and about them, and have fully exploited them! Many thanks for all those references, drinks and meals. In the end, it is one’s family that offers the greatest, most practical and ‘unheroic’ support, diversions, and reminders of what life is actually all about. Mine is no exception and my heartfelt thanks go to Meera and the boys, Rohan and Nikhil who, without knowing it, keep me going when times are a little ‘rough’ and celebrate little victories. Without them, there would be no point, really. Part 1 1 Introduction The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and the Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA) were initiated at a series of unofficial meetings in Paris in 1919. Their aims were identical. They were supposed to be two branches of one institute of international affairs. They went on to become the most important, respected, ‘influential’ and prestigious organisations for the continuous study of foreign affairs in their respective nations. They publish highly respected quarterly reviews, Foreign Affairs (CFR) and International Affairs (RIIA). They were consulted by officials who make foreign policy in regard to international treaties and conferences in the interwar years and mobilised for war in 1938 and 1939. They played key roles in advance preparation and planning for the postwar world order. They were, and are, core components of their respective nations’ foreign policy establishments and, some would claim, of an Anglo- American establishment. They are part of an elite network that connects corporate wealth, universities, philanthropic foundations, and official policymakers (Shoup and Minter, 1977; Schulzinger, 1984; Wala, 1994; Parmar, 1995b, 1999b, 2001). In the short period between the two world wars, the official perception of RIIA (also known as Chatham House) underwent radical change. From being seen as an outsider trying to ‘muscle in’ to what was considered the private domain of the Foreign Office, Britain’s foreign policy and relations, Chatham House, by 1939, was seen as a vital national institu- tion, part of which became incorporated into the official machinery of that very Office (Dockrill, 1980). Similarly, the Council was also integrated into the State Department once war broke out in Europe, two years prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Chatham House was founded by, and attracted, some of the most active and important figures – political, intellectual and other – of the interwar years. Arnold Toynbee, the eminent 3 I. Parmar, Think Tanks and Power in Foreign Policy © Inderjeet Parmar 2004
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