Transnational Anti-Communism and the Cold War Agents, Activities, and Networks

How was anti-communism organized in the West? Was it all run by the CIA? The book covers the aims, arguments and associations of a range of transnational anti-communist activists during the Cold War. While the CIA were obviously important, other motives, interests and financial sources were available. The contributors of this volume open up new fields of research to explore how far
anti-communism was actually planned, coordinated and structured across Western nations. By taking a transnational approach, the book moves beyond simply reducing anti-communist activities to the interests of governments and instead focuses on the role of individuals and private networks, how they organized themselves and how they pursued their own interests.

While Cold Warriors in both the US and Europe called for an anti-communist 'crusade', various factors – geopolitical interests, elitist prejudices, ideological divisions, religious beliefs – were influential in fuelling activism. This volume demonstrates the complex array of forces, factions and frictions that were active during the Cold War, and shows that Western anti-communism, despite its
apparently straightforward goal to oppose Soviet power, moved along many different paths simultaneously.

Luc van Dongen is a Post-Doctoral Researcher in contemporary history at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. He has taught previously at the University of Geneva and Lausanne. His areas of research include anti-communism, the Cold War, the far right, transnational networks, intelligence, and americanization.

Stéphanie Roulin is a Post-Doctoral Researcher in contemporary history at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. Her areas of research cover anti-communism, religious history and intellectuals.

Giles Scott-Smith is Senior Researcher with the Roosevelt Study Center and Ernst van der Beugel Chair in the Diplomatic History of Transatlantic Relations since World War II at Leiden University, the Netherlands. His most recent publication is Western Anti-Communism and the Interdoc Network: Cold War Internationale (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012).

Introduction (Luc van Dongen, Stéphanie Roulin, Giles Scott-Smith)
PART I: THE WURLITZER REVISITED
1. The American Society of African Culture: The CIA and Transnational Networks among African Diaspora Intellectuals; Hugh Wilford
2. The American Federation of Labor and the Nordic Non-Communist Left; Dino Knudsen
3. 'Brother Tronchet': A Swiss Trade Union Leader within the American Sphere of Influence; Luc van Dongen
4. 'Not an Ugly American': Sal Tas, a Dutch Reporter as Agent of the West in Africa; Tity de Vries
PART II: TRANSNATIONAL NETWORKS
5. Paix et Liberté: The Formative Transnational Anti-Communist Network; Bernard Ludwig
6. Gathering the Exiles: The Assembly of Captive European Nations; Martin Nekola
7. The Formation and Mutations of the World Anti-Communist League; Pierre Abramovici
8. The Necessity of Going Transnational: The Role of Interdoc; Giles Scott-Smith
9. Brian Crozier and the Institute for the Study of Conflict; Jeff Michaels
10. Global Crusade against Communism: The Cercle during the 'Second Cold War'; Adrian Hänni
PART III: INTELLECTUAL NETWORKS AND ANTI-TOTALITARIANISM
11. The Sovietology of Józef M. Bochenski: Transnational Activism from Switzerland, 1955-1965; Matthieu Gillabert
12. Suzanne Labin: An Atlanticist Anti-Communist Professional; Olivier Dard
13. The Mont Pelerin Society and the Rise of the Postwar Neoliberal Counter-Establishment; Niels Bjerre-Poulsen
14. Better Dead than Red: Wilhelm Röpke, a Neoliberal Anti-Communist; Jean Solchany
PART IV: CHRISTIAN NETWORKS
15. Transnational Anti-Communist Fundamentalism: The International Council of Christian Churches; Markku Ruotsila
16. A Christian Kominform? The Comité International de Défense de la Civilisation Chrétienne; Johannes Grossmann
17. Bible Smuggling and Human Rights in the Soviet Bloc During the Cold War; Bent Boel