Civilizing the Enemy: German Reconstruction and the Invention of the WestFor the past century, politicians have claimed that "Western Civilization" epitomizes democratic values and international stability. But who is a member of "Western Civilization"? Germany, for example, was a sworn enemy of the United States and much of Western Europe in the first part of the twentieth century, but emerged as a staunch Western ally after World War II. By examining German reconstruction under the Marshall Plan, author Patrick Jackson shows how the rhetorical invention of a West that included Germany was critical to the emergence of the postwar world order. Civilizing the Enemy convincingly describes how concepts are strategically shaped and given weight in modern international relations, by expertly dissecting the history of "the West" and demonstrating its puzzling persistence in the face of contradictory realities. "By revisiting the early Cold War by means of some carefully conducted intellectual history, Patrick Jackson expertly dissects the post-1945 meanings of "the West" for Europe's emergent political imaginary. West German reconstruction, the foundation of NATO, and the idealizing of 'Western civilization' all appear in fascinating new light." --Geoff Eley, University of Michigan "Western civilization is not given but politically made. In this theoretically sophisticated and politically nuanced book, Patrick Jackson argues that Germany's reintegration into a Western community of nations was greatly facilitated by civilizational discourse. It established a compelling political logic that guided the victorious Allies in their occupation policy. This book is very topical as it engages critically very different, and less successful, contemporary theoretical constructions and political deployments of civilizational discourse." --Peter J. Katzenstein, Cornell University "What sets Patrick Jackson's book apart is his attention, on the one hand, to philosophical issues behind the kinds of theoretical claims he makes and, on the other hand, to the methodological implications that follow from those claims. Few scholars are willing and able to do both, and even fewer are as successful as he is in carrying it off. Patrick Jackson is a systematic thinker in a field where theory is all the rage but systematic thinking is in short supply." --Nicholas Onuf, Florida International University Patrick Thaddeus Jackson is Assistant Professor of International Relations in American University's School of International Service. |
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Abendland Acheson actors Adenauer Adenauer's advocates Allies American American exceptionalism analysis analytical anticommunism argued argument articulations Bizone Bundestag causal chapter Christian civilizational claim Cold War commitment Communist concept cultural debates defense democracy deployed deployment discussion economic effort Eisenberg 1996 empirical European Recovery explain focus foreign policy Greeks important individual institutions involved issue justify Kennan kind Konrad Adenauer legitimation Marshall Marshall Plan military Morgenthau Plan NATO Nexon notion occidentalism occidentalist occidentalist language occupied opponents opposed outcome participate particular party political position possible postwar German reconstruction Potsdam Agreement preserve principles problem question representatives rhetorical commonplaces role Russia Schumacher Schumacher's sense simply Social Democratic Sonderweg Soviet Union specific speech Spengler stability strategy structure threat tion traditional trajectory Truman Truman Doctrine United unity Weber West German Western Civilization Western Europe zone of occupation