ISBN: Ostalo
Godina izdanja: 2013
Jezik: Engleski
Autor: Strani

A joint biography of John Foster Dulles and Allen Dulles, who led the United States into an unseen war that decisively shaped today`s world

During the 1950s, when the Cold War was at its peak, two immensely powerful brothers led the United States into a series of foreign adventures whose effects are still shaking the world.

John Foster Dulles was secretary of state while his brother, Allen Dulles, was director of the Central Intelligence Agency. In this book, Stephen Kinzer places their extraordinary lives against the background of American culture and history. He uses the framework of biography to ask: Why does the United States behave as it does in the world?

The Brothers explores hidden forces that shape the national psyche, from religious piety to Western movies—many of which are about a noble gunman who cleans up a lawless town by killing bad guys. This is how the Dulles brothers saw themselves, and how many Americans still see their country`s role in the world.

Propelled by a quintessentially American set of fears and delusions, the Dulles brothers launched violent campaigns against foreign leaders they saw as threats to the United States. These campaigns helped push countries from Guatemala to the Congo into long spirals of violence, led the United States into the Vietnam War, and laid the foundation for decades of hostility between the United States and countries from Cuba to Iran.

The story of the Dulles brothers is the story of America. It illuminates and helps explain the modern history of the United States and the world.
A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of 2013

Author Stephen Kinzer
Language English
Subject Politics and government
Publisher Times Books
Publication date 2013
Publication place United States
Pages 416
ISBN 978-0-8050-9497-8

The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War is a 2013 book by the New York Times journalist and historian Stephen Kinzer.[1] It has been described as `a riveting chronicle of government-sanctioned murder, casual elimination of `inconvenient` regimes, relentless prioritization of American corporate interests and cynical arrogance on the part of two men who were once among the most powerful in the world.`[2] Kinzer traces how the activity of the Dulles brothers `helped set off some of the world`s most profound long-term crises.`[3] It is based on secondary sources.[4]

Background
President Dwight Eisenhower gave the position of secretary of state to John Foster Dulles and the position of director of the CIA to Allen Dulles in 1953. It was the first and only time in history two brothers were appointed to head the overt and covert sides of American foreign policy.[3]

Context
The book mentions that the Dulles brothers play a vital role in leading the U.S. into the Vietnam War, and assisting to overthrow cold war governments such as Guatemala, Iran, the Congo, and Indonesia.[3]

The book`s first several chapters give information about the family background, childhoods, and college educations of the two brothers. In this way, some points of their personal life are provided: Foster was a devoted husband while Allen was an unfaithful one. Kinzer explains how the actions of the Dulles brothers were aimed at removing world leaders whom they considered dangerous to the American interests. The brothers had a significant effect on the United States foreign policy and global conflicts. [5]

The book mentions `six monsters` that the `Dulles brothers believed had to be brought down`: Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran, Jacobo Árbenz in Guatemala, Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, Sukarno in Indonesia, Patrice Lumumba in the Congo, and Fidel Castro in Cuba. Ho Chi Minh and Castro espoused left-wing politics. The other leaders on the list were nationalists who campaigned for their country`s independence. The book also discusses Iran at length. While explaining the careers of the brothers, Kinzer describes events from American history such as mind-control experiments “in which psychoactive drugs were administered to unknowing victims.” [2][4]

See also
Poisoner in Chief