The demands of a global Cold War led the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and its successor organization, the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA), to forge unprecedented relationships with Catholics, Buddhists, and Muslims around the world in the fight
against Communism. These religious groups offered valuable networks of information about and throughout geopolitical hot spots including
Vietnam, Italy, and North Africa. In its strategic approach toward religious tolerance, the intelligence community drew on existing
understandings of "foreign" religions in American culture even as it revised these understandings to be more useful to national security
goals. From World War II through the early Cold War, American intelligence officers honed this approach in the context of two burgeoning
discourses in American culture: a renewed attention to religious pluralism as well as a newfound national interest in "world religions."
The CIA's use of these discourses reshaped the way in which religion was a central component of American identity and national security,
at home and abroad. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of
Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2016. / February 23, 2016. / CIA, Cold War, OSS, Religion, World Religions / Includes bibliographical references. / Amanda Porterfield, Professor Directing Dissertation; Kurt Piehler, University Representative;
John Corrigan, Committee Member; Michael McVicar, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_360510 |
| Contributors | Graziano, Michael (authoraut), Porterfield, Amanda (professor directing dissertation), Piehler, G. Kurt (university representative), Corrigan, John (committee member), McVicar, Michael J. (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Arts and Sciences (degree granting college), Department of Religion (degree granting department) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource (262 pages), computer, application/pdf |
| Coverage | United States |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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