(Non-LU) U.S. Propaganda and the Cultural Cold War in Asia

The proposed Tier One research project U.S. Propaganda and the Cultural Cold War in Asia explores how postwar Asia was shaped by Cold War cultural politics and American hegemony through The Asia Foundation (TAF)’s cultural and educational activities, which provided financial aid to cultural industries, academic institutions and universities, and supported the anti-communist cultural elites in East and Southeast Asia. TAF was originally a creation of the executive branch intended to propagate U.S. foreign policy interests in Asia. It was established in San Francisco on March 12th, 1951, during the second Truman administration, by a group of Californians who believed that an American non-governmental organization that was primarily focused on Asia could help to increase the desire and ability of Asians to resist Communism on their own soil. The Korean War (1950-1953) was then at its height. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, TAF operated more than fifteen field offices in major cities in Asia, from Tokyo and Manila to Kuala Lumpur, Rangoon, and Singapore. Field officers were mostly university professors in area studies, journalists, and former U.S. State Department officers. During these two decades, TAF’s primary activities included supporting journalists, writers, film directors and producers, educators, and opinion leaders, encouraging them to fight against communist forces

Publication of my book 'Cinema and the Cultural Cold War: US Diplomacy and the Origins of the Asian Cinema Network (Cornel University Press, 2020)'