Thesis advisor: Seth Jacobs / The 1950s and early 1960s witnessed a dawning awareness throughout many sectors of American society that women were good for more than simply bearing children and tending house. The threat of communism, epitomized by the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik in 1957, created extreme anxiety in the United States, an anxiety that manifested itself in two contradictory fashions. First, American women learned that the nation's best defense against communism began in the home, which was decidedly women's domain. The second message that American women received during this time is unquestionably the lesser known. The federal government and much of American society identified women as an untapped resource in national defense, a source of innovation and advancement in science and technology, thereby implying that with the help of American women, the United States could match Soviet achievements in these fields. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2005. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: History. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

Thesis advisor: Jennie Purnell / Abstract: American policy in Latin America has been primarily motivated by a desire to keep foreign powers out of the Western Hemisphere. To this end America has pursued a policy of military intervention designed to make sure that it stays the dominant power in this hemisphere. American policymakers consider this vital to national security, and have do not let concerns over the moral implications of the interventions interfere. This paper looks at interventions during the 20th century, focusing on the imperialist era of the first few decades of the 20th century and the Cold War. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2004. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Political Science. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

Thesis advisor: John Michalczyk / Stanley Kubrick explored and subverted the concept of American Myth throughout his filmography. American Myth may include the notion of social mobility (the American Dream), the archetypal gunslinger of the American West, the righteousness of a democratic system, a belief in social egalitarianism, and explicit foreign policies such as the Monroe Doctrine and the idea of Manifest Destiny. Kubrick’s Paths of Glory is an indictment of modern war and the commoditization of human lives. Dr. Strangelove demonstrates a uniquely American obsession with technology, proving innovation is not always progress. Finally, with Full Metal Jacket, Kubrick shows Vietnam has supplanted the West as America’s frontier, complete with gunplay between cowboys and native inhabitants. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Film Studies.

Esta dissertação tem como tema quatro filmes do gênero ficção científica, produzidos nos Estados Unidos da América no período do segundo pós-guerra, O Dia em que a Terra Parou (1951), Vampiros de Almas (1956), A Bolha (1958) e Limite de Segurança (1964). Nas sociedades contemporâneas, este gênero se torna relevante como objeto de interpretação do real, representando, interpretando e discutindo o seu contexto histórico e as relações humanas com o desconhecido, propondo formas de organização social e reflexões sobre a natureza da Ciência e Tecnologia. Por meio da leitura crítica dos filmes pode-se compreender o imaginário americano sobre questões referentes às relações internacionais da Guerra Fria e às ameaças internas à sociedade, sem deixar para trás a visão de que estes filmes atingiram diversas sociedades em diversas regiões do mundo e também tratam de questões universais. / This dissertation presents four science fiction movies, produced in the United States of America in the second post war period, The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), The Blob (1958), Fail-Safe (1964). In contemporary societies, this genre becomes relevant as an interpretation of the real, representing, interpreting, and discussing its historical context and the human relationships with the unknown, proposing ways of social organization and reflections about the nature of Science and Technology. By means of critical reading of the movies, the American imaginary regarding the international relations of the Cold War and the internal threats to society can be comprehended, without leaving behind the notion that these movies reach societies in different regions of the world and deal with universal questions.

O presente estudo propõe-se a investigar a agenda cultural dos intelectuais comunistas brasileiros nas décadas de 1940 e 1950, período em que o mundo viveu um rearranjo de forças politicas, econômicas e militares com o início da Guerra Fria. O embate entre as duas potências antagônicas Estados Unidos e União Soviética - também se deu no campo ideológico, mediante intensa propaganda cultural fomentada por ambos os lados, a fim de trazer a intelectualidade e a opinião pública para sua esfera de influência. Buscamos identificar os principais temas e atividades com que se envolveram os intelectuais brasileiros de esquerda neste cenário. Para tanto, o trabalho teve como fonte de pesquisa três revistas culturais comunistas Literatura (Rio de Janeiro), Fundamentos (São Paulo) e Horizonte (Porto Alegre) editadas entre 1946 e 1956, que veicularam discussões relevantes a respeito da literatura e das artes plásticas como armas ideológicas, bem como sobre a participação do escritor e do artista na política e na democratização da cultura. Mereceram especial atenção os congressos promovidos pela Associação Brasileira dos Escritores (ABDE), as atividades do Movimento pela Paz Mundial - mobilização internacional que contou com ampla participação de intelectuais brasileiros - bem como as formulações sobre a estética do realismo socialista no início do século XX na URSS e a sua divulgação no Brasil no pós Guerra, por meio dos debates e interpretações que permearam a agenda cultural comunista brasileira. / This study aims to investigate the cultural agenda of the Brazilian communist intellectuals in the 1940s and 1950s, during which time the world experienced a rearrangement of political, economic and military powers with the onset of the Cold War. The clash between the two antagonistic superpowers - the United States and the Soviet Union - also took place in the ideological field, through intense cultural propaganda fostered by both sides in order to attract the intellectuals and public opinion to their sphere of influence. We seek to identify key issues and activities that engaged Brazilian leftish intellectuals in this scenario. Thereto this work was based in three communist cultural magazines as research sources - Literatura (Rio de Janeiro), Fundamentos (São Paulo) and Horizonte (Porto Alegre) - published between 1946 and 1956. These magazines conveyed meaningful discussions about literature and arts as ideological weapons, as well as on the role of the writer and the artist in politics and in the democratization of culture. Special attention has been dedicated to the conferences sponsored by the Brazilian Association of Writers (Associação Brasileira dos Escritores - ABDE), the activities comprising the Movement for World Peace an international mobilization in which Brazilian intellectuals had a large participation - as well as to the formulations about the aesthetics of socialist realism in the early twentieth century in USSR and its dissemination in Brazil in the postwar era, through the debates and interpretations that have permeated the Brazilian communist cultural agenda.

Esta tese volta-se para o exame de como a guerra civil angolana (1975-2002), já implicada durante a guerra de libertação contra o colonialismo português, imprimiu os termos a partir dos quais a construção de um estado nacional unívoco pôde ser concebido. Em diálogo com trabalhos que abordam a questão das formações nacionais como agenciamento entre diferenças, colocam-se como foco de análise as diversas narrativas sobre o conflito. A oposição entre MPLA e UNITA em Angola produziu duas formas opostas de universalização e de agenciamento de diferenças, formas estas, no entanto, igualmente direcionadas à representação de uma identidade nacional coesa. Diferentes categorias de diferenciação como etnia, oposição campo-cidade, raça e reivindicações ideológicas foram mobilizadas por cada lado de formas distintas em diferentes momentos do conflito, tanto na forma de autorrepresentações quanto na forma de contraposições via acusações. Categorias de diferenciação foram sendo produzidas no transcurso do conflito à medida que as estratégias dos atores iam informando suas agendas políticas. Nesse processo, os oponentes moldaram suas irreconciliações um em relação ao outro. Essa rede de narrativas conflitantes é mapeada de modo a compreender, ao mesmo tempo, sua transformação no que diz respeito ao modo de configurar as diferenças e sua contribuição para a formação da imaginação nacional angolana. A análise atenta para as inflexões operadas nos regimes discursivos em torno das principais questões que compuseram os diferentes momentos do conflito. / This dissertation analyzes how the Angolan civil war (1975-2002), already implied during the liberation war against Portuguese colonialism, set the terms based on which the construction of a univocal nation state could be conceived. In dialogue with the literature that approaches the issue of national formation as the handling of differences, this work assesses the different narratives on the conflict. The opposition between the MPLA and UNITA in Angola produced two different, opposed forms of universalizing and handling differences, which were nonetheless equally directed towards the representation of a cohesive national identity. At different moments during the conflict, each side resorted to different categories of differentiation such as ethnicity, the rural-urban divide, race, and ideological claims, in the form of both self-representation and contraposition through accusation. Categories of differentiation were produced throughout the conflict as the actors strategies informed their political agendas. In this process, the rivals molded their irreconciliations in relation to one another. This network of conflicting narratives is mapped out in order to understand both its transformation regarding how differences were configured and its contribution to the formation of an Angolan national imagination. The analysis focuses on the turning points of the discursive regimes concerning the main issues that made up the different moments of the conflict.

L'abandon (ou terminaison) des programmes d'armement est un phénomène en progression aux Etats-Unis. Au cours des vingt dernières années, la première puissance mondiale a annulé presque deux fois plus de systèmes que durant la période 1970-1989, et au regard de la crise économique qui secoue actuellement le pays la tendance ne semble pas près de s'inverser. Mais, en dépit de son actualité, la terminaison demeure un sujet peu étudié en science politique. En faisant appel à l'analyse cognitive des politiques publiques, cette thèse propose d'y apporter des éléments de réponse. Elle repose pour cela sur l'examen de trois programmes d'armement dont le développement ou la production furent arrêtés entre 1991 et 2009 : l'avion d'attaque A-12 Avenger II, l'hélicoptère RAH-66 Comanche et le chasseur F-22 Raptor. Les résultats de l'étude montrent que depuis les années 90, les décideurs américains sont bien moins réfractaires à l'idée de terminer les programmes qu'ils estiment trop chers ou inutiles. Cette tendance lourde dans la politique d'armement a pour origine le changement de paradigme provoqué par la fin de la Guerre froide. Avec l'obsolescence de la notion de course aux armements, l’impératif de modernisation qui animait autrefois l’acquisition militaire américaine s’est assoupli pour laisser place à une représentation plus pragmatique des enjeux d’équipement. / Weapons programs cancellation (or termination) is a rising phenomenon in the U.S. Over the past twenty years, the world's greatest power has been cancelling nearly twice as much major systems as during the 1970-1989 period, and in view of the economic crisis that now shakes the country, this trend is unlikely to reverse. However, despite its relevance in the current context, little research has been done so far on policy termination. Using a cognitive approach, this thesis aims to provide answers on this issue. Three major weapons programs, whose development or production were stopped between 1991 and 2009, were selected as case studies : the A-12 Avenger II attack aircraft, the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter, and the F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft. Results of this study showed that, since the 90's, U.S. decision-makers became far less reluctant to cancel the weapons programs they consider irrelevant or too costly. This major trend in procurement has its origin in the deep normative change that occurred with the end of the Cold War. With the obsolescence of the arms race, the follow-on imperative that previously drove U.S. weapons policy diminished, giving way to a more pragmatic vision of acquisition matters.

Esta dissertação busca analisar três romances e um conto produzidos nos Estados Unidos nos anos 1950, pertencentes ao gênero de ficção científica. Trata-se de Um Cântico para Leibowitz, de Walter Miller Jr, escrito entre 1955 e 1957; Saia do meu céu!, de James Blish, escrito entre 1956 e 1957; Os mercadores do espaço, de Frederik Pohl e C.M. Kornbluth, escrito em 1953; e \"Invasores do Espaço Interior\", de Howard Koch, publicado em 1959. O objetivo do trabalho é estudar e entender de que maneira as forças sociais que formavam a \"estrutura de sentimento\" daquela época se materializaram nas obras. Para isso, procuramos os momentos de utopia presentes nos romances e no conto, indicando como tais momentos são neutralizados ou deslocados por aspectos ideológicos, que barram a imaginação e as possibilidades criativas dos autores. Seguindo a tradição crítica materialista histórica, vemos que as obras de arte, mesmo aquelas que se ligam mais fortemente à chamada Indústria Cultural, são atos sociais simbólicos, os quais intentam responder aos questionamentos mais pungentes de sua época. A análise é realizada em camadas, iniciando-se no nível textual, passando para um estudo de estruturas narrativas: o foco narrativo, a representação do espaço e do tempo. Depois, selecionamos um material social fundamental para o gênero, dentre os que as obras dão voz: a ciência. Analisamos como esse material é revelado em suas potencialidades utópicas ou suas restrições históricas. O que todos os exames demonstram é que existe uma tentativa de deslocar ou neutralizar a vontade de mudanças presente nas obras. Nossa hipótese era que o crescente fechamento político e a repressão nos primeiros anos da década de 1950 tinham sido as responsáveis por essa dificuldade de pensar alternativas positivas e viáveis para o presente e o futuro dos homens. Isso fica evidenciado ao observarmos o episódio final de cada um dos objetos sob estudo. Entender como os autores responderam no passado a certa pressão social parece ser relevante hoje, como forma de evitarmos, num novo momento de repressão e crise, respostas repetidas e desviadas das preocupações reais atuais / This dissertation, Reification and Utopia in Science Fiction of the Cold War, aims at analyzing three novels and a short-story produced in the United States in the 1950s, all part of the science fiction genre. They are A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller Jr, written between 1955 and 1957; Get out of my sky by James Blish, written between 1956 and 1957; The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth, written in 1953; and \"Invasion from Inner Space\" by Howard Koch, published in 1959. The objective is to study and understand the way in which the social forces that formed the structure of feeling of that time was materialized in the works. In order to do this, we looked for moments of utopia present in the novels and short-story and how such moments are neutralized or displaced by ideological aspects, which block the authors imaginations and creative possibilities. Following the Marxian criticism, we believe that the works of art, even those closely associated to the Culture Industry, are social symbolic acts, which try to answer some of the most pressing questioning of its own time. The analysis is carried out in layers, starting in the textual level, going to the study of narrative structures: point of view, the representation of sapce and time. Afterwards, we selected one fundamental social material to the genre, among those the works include, which is science. We analyzed how such material is revealed in its utopian potentialities or historical restrictions. What all the examination demonstrate is that there is na attempt to displace or neutralize the wish for a change we can find in the narratives. Our hypothesis is that the increasing political closure and repression of the early 1950s was responsible for such difficulty in thinking of viable and positive to the present of future of humanity. This becomes evident when we observe the ending episode of each text of this study. Also, grasping how the authors answered to certain social pressures in the past seems relevant today, as a way of avoiding, in a new moment of repression and crisis, repeated and diverting answers, unconnected with the current real preoccupations.

The United States Information Agency (USIA) was the official propaganda agency of the American government. During the period of the Johnson administration, its programme in Italy was the second largest in Western Europe, right after West Germany and immediately before France. This dissertation examines the USIA programme, and places it within the larger context of American policy towards Italy at this crucial juncture in the history of both countries. Beginning in the 1950s, following the traumatic experience of World War II and the unthinkable implications of nuclear warfare, the bipolar conflict was progressively channelled into non-military means of combat. In addition to the better known methods of traditional diplomacy, the threat of force, and economic aid, the United States deployed new instruments to win the ‘battle for hearts and minds’ against the Soviet Union. These new instruments included public diplomacy, cultural and educational exchanges, and ‘overt’ and ‘covert’ propaganda operations. This exercise of soft power became one of the main instruments used to stop the expansion of communism and to unite NATO countries behind American leadership. Yet this task was particularly demanding during the Johnson years, when the image of the Unites States abroad was tarnished as never before by the civil rights struggle and the escalation of the Vietnam War. Italy is a particularly interesting and important case study of American psychological warfare in Western Europe. Not only did the country host the largest Communist Party in the West, the Partito Comunista Italiano (PCI), for the entire duration of the cold war, –– but Italy also had more than twenty governments in the first two decades of the post-war era. At a deeper level, the country oscillated between two different political formulas, centrismo and a centre-left coalition. As a result it proved impossible to carry out the structural reforms needed to ensure the country’s stability. The government’s inability to ‘keep Italy on track’ and to effectively oppose the communist threat led to the deployment of an extensive USIA programme in Italy. Surprisingly, this topic has not been studied intensively. Although there is a rich literature on American influence in the Italian election of 1948, and there has been some discussion of American psychological warfare in Italy during the fifties, no scholar has carried out an in-depth study on the role of US public diplomacy in Italy during the sixties, particularly the Johnson era. The dissertation is based on detailed research in the Johnson and Nixon libraries as well as at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland where the official documents of the USIA (RG 306) are located. On the Italian side, I have analyzed the major Italian newspapers, radio and TV shows targeted by the agency.

This dissertation seeks to offer the first extensive account of Raymond Aron's critical interactions with major US academics and intellectuals during the Cold War. In doing so it demonstrates that Aron regularly criticized the liberal ideology of his American Cold War allies using language remarkably similar to his much more famous critiques of French Marxism. It demonstrates this by looking at Aron's thinking on neoliberalism, theories of global development and international relations realism. It also offers an alternative interpretation of Aron's role in the so-called French liberal revival of the 1970s.