Ignorance Abroad - American Educational and Cultural Foreign Policy and the Office of Assistant Secretary of State

In the past, the United States has focused on the military, economic, and diplomatic aspects of our foreign policy, while neglecting the area of educational and cultural affairs. Wieck considers the development of U.S. foreign educational and cultural policy from 1938 to the present, with a particular focus on the Kennedy initiative to enhance development of such a policy through the establishment in 1961 of the Office of Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs. As the United States struggles to compete in the arena of international trade, the importance of educational and cultural affairs as an integral part of U.S. foreign policy continues to grow.

Wieck surveys events leading to the establishment of the Office of Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, as well as global developments calling for an increased emphasis on this aspect of foreign policy. He outlines the functions of the office and the efforts to hone its policy goals, and discusses the activities of the first incumbent, Philip Coombs. The final section explores Coombs's mysterious dismissal and the terms of subsequent Assistant Secretaries until the office was merged with U.S.I.A. Students of U.S. foreign policy and members of the international educational community will value this thorough analysis of a much-neglected area of U.S. foreign policy.

List of contents

Foreword
Introduction
The Origins of a U.S. Foreign Educational and Cultural Policy
The Creation of the Post
Organizing the Office and Surveying the Field
The First Phase: From Theory to Policy
The Second Phase: The Budget and Conferences
The Last Phase: Santiago and the Nubian Monuments
Inherited Responsibilities
Obstacles to a New Policy
Coombs's "Resignation"
Subsequent Secretaries
Conclusion
Selected Bibliography
Index

About the author

RANDOLPH WIECK is a lecturer in American studies at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland.

Product details

• Authors: Randolph Wieck, Wieck Randolph
• Publisher: Bloomsbury
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.08.1992
• EAN: 9780275937980
• ISBN: 978-0-275-93798-0
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; USA, EDUCATION / General, Education, HISTORY / Social History, Social & cultural history, POLITICAL SCIENCE / American Government / National, Later 20th century c 1950 to c 1999, Social and cultural history, United States of America, USA, c 1938 to c 1946 (World War Two period), c 1919 to c 1939 (Inter-war period), c 1939 to c 1945 (including WW2), c 1918 to c 1939 (Inter-war period), Central / national / federal government policies, c 1945 to c 2000 (Post-war period), Central government policies, Politics, Law, and Government: International Relations